One Shot Alley

by Grey Faerie

Behind the Mirror

Pinkie looked around. Could it all have been a bad dream? She looked down at the surface below herself and remembered...

At first touch, the mirror pool was cool then it evaporated to a silvery void that surrounded her body. It brought back memories those mediating pods that cut off all outside senses. She had been in one just once but it was enough to last her a lifetime. Now, she was there again except it wasn't dark like in the pod. The void wasn't like normal water; it was eerie in the feeling of nothing yet clearly water when you moved. There had been no splash when she had entered either, only ripples on the surface of a mirror.

Her eyes opened to a light that was too bright for a moment. Her eyes adjusted then opened wide to attempt to take in the massive expanse below her. It was a blinding white milky view that was also somehow clear. Her body twitched and she looked up. There she was! Only, there were two of her. They looked so happy. One walked off and the other looked at the pool. She waved happily at her other self. A movement caught her eye and she gasped at the swirl of the pool's substance became a milky cloud until it reached the surface threshold. It broke the surface and formed a hoof. Her other pulled it out. Soon, many other hers were staring down at the pool and pulling out a form.

Pinkie smiled. She felt so happy and warm even though she couldn't understand why. Her eyes started to droop. Everything was so milky and turning silvery and strange. Her body relaxed in the pool of substance like a comfee bed lauding her to sleep. But before she completely closed her eyes, her body shuttered violently. She convulsed over and over again. Pinkie screamed into the empty void. Everything was white. It was soundless. Finally, the convulsing stopped. Pinkie tried to catch her breath as she shook. She grit her teeth and curled up into a ball. It was over.

It was over and strangely clearer. Her thoughts came back to her like a pin dropping in an empty room.

Where am I? What's going on?

She looked around. Nothing. It was all nothing. She reached out a hoof and tried to touch one of the swirling bit of substance around her. It dissolved before she even got near it. It was like it wasn't really there to begin with. She felt very light in the water. Pinkie moved her limbs and found she could in fact, swim. She pursed her lips and looked around for anything that might be a point of reference.

Where is that light coming from anyway?

Pinkie looked towards the far end of the void. There was a light coming from there so she swam toward it. She continued to swim to it. Pinkie paddled harder then softer then harder again. It was ages. She looked back to find herself still in the endless void. There was nothing there. The light was in front of her but then...it was behind? No, it was below. Wa-wait! It's, it's...

Where is this?

Pinkie's feel a shuttering in her mind. There was nothing. Just white, clear, silvery milky substance.

But how could it be all that? And yet, not at all?

Pinkie wrapped her arms around her trembling shoulders. She twisted her head around ever which way. Her wide eyes stared into the void, straining to find anything. But, there was nothing. A cold and empty feeling mirroring the void outside of herself filled her from within. It was like touching a mirror on a cold morning. Where were her insides?

Where are they?

She raked her hooves across her chest. There was no wound yet she was empty. Where were they?

Pinkie clutched her head. Where am I?!

There was no sound in the water, not a single ripple crossed the surface. It was dark and hollow in the cave above. That hollow air screamed across space to her. It converged onto the surface of the pool trying to snuff it out... or was it trying to break it?

Pinkie looked up. There was the world staring right down at her. Pinkie frantically swam to the surface. She pressed onto the water tension until her hooves throbbed. She pounded on the water.

"I just...I want out. Let me out! Please, someone!!" Pinkie drew in her breaths as if fighting through a smoking building, coughing and hacking and swallowing. "I want my friends. I want my family. The Cakes too. Just anyone, please." Her head laid gently on the surface.

The world stared down at her and blinked. Pinkie blinked right back. Sunshine wavered on her skin as all of Ponyville floated beneath her. There was all her friends, the Cakes too! She pressed onto the surface and called out to them. They were walking right passed her! She screamed and ran along with them but they never stopped. Pinkie stopped and breathed. Slowly, she turned her head to the windows of the buildings beside her.

Why are the words all backwards?

Her eyes widened as did her mouth.

It's like looking into a mirror.

Pinkie pressed her face to the surface. She hit the mirror's surface once. Then Pinkie started to laugh. She laughed and laughed till her stomach hurt.

"It's like a mirror! It's just like I'm seeing everything from a mirror. Everything." She laid down onto the surface and looked down. She watched the Cakes walk away. More ponies walked by her. Pinkie thought of her friends and there they were. She was looking up now from the cup of tea on Twilight's desk. She moved over to the tank of water by Spike. Pinkie gasped and jumped up. There she was! Standing by the coffee table. Only, that wasn't really her.

"No! No! I'm here! I'm here Twilight. I'm in the mirror pool. That's not me. That's not me. Please. That's...I'm here, the real me." Pinkie pressed her head into the surface and wept. "I'm here."

Her cheeks would dry, the water of the pool having mixed with her tears and flowed away. The only sound had been her weeping. The other her looked so happy. She laughed with Twilight and Spike about a frosting accident. Was that how she looked to everyone else? No wonder they were all her friends.

Pinkie looked to the mirror. She smiled and chuckled. She could watched them, all their laughter and tears. Pinkie propped herself up. She would always be able to watch them. So better get comfortable.

Author's Note:

Pinkie entered the mirror pool, so who welcomed the first clone? This was fixed up on 6/25/15.

From a reviewer (can't remember the name) from the original post date:
103-A: Behind the Mirror

A nice, solid bit of darkfic about the Pool of Mirrors, which some of you may know is one of my favorite plot hooks, and Too Many Pinkie Pies is one of my favorite episodes. It’s a very clever take on the idea, and doesn’t usually get too overwrought on the emotions. That said, sometimes Pinkie is a bit too dramatic when thinking aloud, and the ending could have been stronger. (3/5)

Comments

[Orion97]

Oh nice to see you finished with it! Looking forward to seeing the other chapter that come.

[Super Trampoline]

I thought you were going to sleep.

[Grey Faerie]

5082177

I did! I just had to submit it so it'll post up today.