Fun

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Fun.

One word, one syllable. It was simple, but at the same time oh so complicated.

She knew she had to get it, to chase it down, to experience it in every sense of the word. The mere mention of it sent tingles down her spine, electrifying her new senses. Everything was new, everything was brilliant. Everything was there to be discovered.

Her eyes whipped around, searching the bustling and crowded streets around her, desperately searching for any activity. There had to be something for her to learn, something for her to taste, to smell, to try on for size. Maybe she could go on the swing? Could she hop around? Could she find someone to play with? Maybe one of the other ponies that looked like her, the ones that brushed past her as they jumped and ran and danced along. They were usually fun to play with, and they only wanted the same thing as her! She could almost hear their thoughts as well! Even now she could feel the exhilaration that spiralled out of control through those other ponies.

She continued jumping, hopping, skipping, leaping. All of the silly ways of travel one could imagine, she was doing. Every sight and sound was processed in an instant, being stored away for later. There was so much in the world that she didn’t know. Heck, she’d only just been introduced to those really fun ponies that one of the other hers had introduced. What were their names? Applejoj? Flutterflutter?

Meh. Didn’t matter. She could find out later what their names were. She had more important things to do anyway; there would be plenty of time for her to ask them.

It wasn’t like she was going anywhere, right?

Nah, that was a silly thought. She’d always be around to party, and learn, and have fun. Oh, there would be so much fun that she’d have! She could ea-

Her thought process blinked away as she tumbled head over hooves across the ground, rolling along until she hit a tree. A pony had gotten in her way, or maybe she’d crashed into it. The pony in question was sitting in the dirt in the shadow of a nearby building, head hung low, hooves scraping and scoring patterns into the ground.

She hopped back to her hooves, shaking the stars away from her head. Taking a moment to giggle at the mess she caused, she backtracked to what had tripped her.

It was a pony, a very pink, strange looking pony. It was just sitting there making weird faces with the ground! It didn’t look like fun, but she didn’t even know what the faces meant, so they could easily represent something fun. She had no idea, but the sitting there part did not look like fun at all. It looked like the pony was doing something that wasn’t fun, like... unfun!

Was that the right word for it? She didn't have anything better.

Unfun it was! This other pony was doing unfun! And that wasn’t fun at all, so... what? She had to show this pony what fun was, she already knew that it was the best thing in the world, and she’d only known it properly since that day! Yep, she would tell that pony all about fun.

She stopped next to the sad her and knelt down, still bobbing in place. The other-her on the ground looked at her for a second, right in the eyes, before going back to her drawing. Other-her didn’t even pay attention to herself! That was it, there was something wrong with this other-her! What kind of pony doesn’t realise how much fun is being had by the ponies around her?!

She popped her head right next to the sad her - a random crash going off in the background as another her smashed into an object in the background. It sounded painful.

Not one to delay, she tapped the other-her on the shoulder. “Hey, other-me,” she babbled. “Having fun? Ah of course you are, you’re me! And... I’m me too! And I always have fun!”

Not even waiting for a response she talked on. “Oh oh oh oh oh, ignore me, I'm stupid! Of course you know that! Come on, I need somepony to push me on the swing! Wanna come? Or maybe we could play tag, or have a water fight! Hah! That sounds awesome! Come on, me!”

She turned to hop away, but was delayed by something. Something that was strange to her,a new feeling in a world that, up to this point, had made sense. The other pony wasn’t following her, other-her was doing something else, but what?

Water was falling from other-her’s eyes, impacting the ground with small sounds, like tiny fountains of dirt erupting as each droplet of water hit. There was already a small pool, filling in the slight trough formed by her hooves that she drew.

She froze. How else would she deal with something new arising? She had no real idea of what the other her was feeling, and she had no experience with these kinds of problems, so what could she do?

There was only one solution. Shrugging her shoulders, she tapped the other-her on her shoulders. She started miming her actions, pointing first at other-her, then at herself, before acting out the two of them running along hoof in hoof.

Weirdly, and going against everything she had learned so far, other-her shook her head, water still falling slowly. It seemed that they were falling even faster now, but she had no idea why. Other-her twisted her head a little, wet streaks glistening on her muzzle. “Go,” other-her said, "Maybe I'll do that some other time..." Her head dropped, "I just need to think," other-her sighed heavily.

She tilted her head, still bouncing. “Oh. Okay then! Have fun doing... whatever you’re doing!”

And with that she was off. If the other-her was fine with her activity, then who was she to argue. She was just one of a multitude, and none of the others around her seemed to care, so why should she? There was way too much fun to be had in the world, and she would have so much time to go and discover it with herselves!

But still, the image of the sad her looking at the ground, making small movements with her hooves that made pictures with even smaller meaning, even as hundreds of other pink ponies passed by. It made her feel something, she wasn’t sure what yet, but it was something at least.

It was only a few moments before she completely zoned out, letting her legs take her wherever they wanted to. It didn’t really matter where she went anyway, she was everywhere, so she wouldn’t miss out any any fun, no matter what happened.

Her train of thought petered off as she slowed, her surroundings coming into focus. She’d been so preoccupied with her own ideas that she’d drifted away from Ponyville entirely. How long had she been thinking anyway?

She was in a small area of bush, completely covered from overhead by a thick canopy of leaves. There was no way that anypony would be able to have any chance of seeing her in here! Was she-

Oh darn, what was that word again? Loose? Long? Letter?

LOST! That’s it! Was she lost? She must be, there was no sign of where she’d come from, and only the sounds of her hooves impacting the undergrowth as she hopped along at her own pace. All of the critters were gone, as if they didn’t want to be seen. But that was silly, nothing would ever hide from her. All she wanted was a little FUN!

Hmm, but there didn’t seem like there was much fun to be had here, there was only a few trees and some bushes, no swings, no pools, no baking material, no reading material, no sewing material.

Come to think of it, was there any material at all?

She twirled around on the spot, the dizziness in her head not even affecting her as she rotated, mane whipping around furiously in the centrifugal force. It didn’t matter if there wasn’t any objects, or any ponies here, she could still make her own fun! She was able to make fun out of anything, and if it had the word fun in front of it then it was the thing for her! Nothing could bring her down! Nothing at all!

Then why was she getting the feeling that something bad was about to happen. Something really bad.

There was a feeling that she was getting. Faint, but there.

She let out a small gasp, some instinctive part of her realising, knowing that she had to be somewhere else right now. It was irrational, but for her that word had about the same meaning as the phrase ‘slow down’, or ‘strictly no admittance’. She just got the idea in her head that she had to be in Ponyville, and that if she wasn’t that something would happen without her. Even the other hers were getting that feeling, as if they were a part of something that was incredibly important. A competition of sorts? Something cool? Something fun?!

She narrowed her eyes. If there was something fun, and the other hers had started without inviting her, then she would just have to get there even quicker than usual!

She stopped her spinning and darted towards one of the trees, climbing to the top in a pink-coloured blur, leaving leaves dangling in the air, disturbed in her wake. At the top she had an unrivalled view of the surrounding area. The low lying forest thankfully didn’t have any massive trees, nothing that would prevent her from getting a bearing.

Where could it be? It had to be around here some-

There! There it was! Ponyville!

Without a moment’s hesitation she was off in a flash, springing from treetop to treetop, shaking more leaves, and the occasional hiding animal, from their canopies. Nothing mattered but getting to the fabled town. Manners could wait, and they already had been for the whole day, so this was nothing. If the other hers were having some juicy fun, then she just had to be a part of it!

The canopy parted, and for a moment she was left suspended over the ground in open air. She crashed down in an explosion of grass, but zipped back off without even looking to see where she was going. She knew where Ponyville was anyway, so all she had to do was get there and then she would know exactly what the other hers were up to, and where they were hiding!

As it turned out it was a little more difficult than that. As she zoomed into Ponyville, the pink pony was greeted by something strange, something that she had never experienced before. Silence.

The streets were utterly deserted. Where but a few seconds ago there had been an abundance of ponies all having fun, there was now only her, walking slowly.

This was terrible! How was she going to find the rest of hers if she didn’t have any way of knowing where they were! They were all off doing something and she had no clue of where to st-

Hang on there, what was that! She’d just seen a faint spot of blue, pink, and rainbow. Something at least, but that pink was unmistakable! It was another her! And it looked like it was being carried by another pony, but hay, that wasn’t the weirdest thing that she’d seen yet!

She bounced away, not in any rush now that she knew the direction they were going. She hummed to herself a little tune that she’d heard from another her earlier under her breath as she hopped. Her frizzy mane jostled along with her, keeping her company with its uncertain behaviour.

She had her eyes closed, completely comfortable to jump away with no clue of the specifics of her direction, just letting her hooves guide her. They knew that they were doing.

All too well in fact. They guided her muzzle first into a wooden door, gently slamming against it without the slightest of audible bumps. She looked around. She was in the middle of a small open space, a massive building in front of her, crowding up the area. The door that she’d bumped into appeared to be the main entrance.

She turned to move away when a faint feeling tugged at her again. It was the same one from earlier, the same one that had made her go to Ponyville. She turned, somehow knowing that, without a doubt, her others were inside the building, participating in the activity, whatever it was.

But how would she get inside? The door was locked, evidenced by her trying the door and failing to get it to budge. Now she didn't have any other way in!

Or did she...

There was a window on the side of the building! That was it! That was her ticket to getting inside and having fun with the rest of her.

She clung to the outside of the building, taking the hard way of actually crawling around the outside to get to a window. It was the perfect way in! Nothing would stop her from joining the other hers! She would have some fun at la-

Hang on, what’s happening? And what are they doing? Are they just, sitting there? Why would that be fun? And why do they all look so serious? Is something important happening?

She hesitated, her hooves mere centimetres from opening the window and allowing her access inside, but something made her stop. The look on the faces of the other hers, the five of her new maybe-friends watching intently, the overall atmosphere.

Every single her was gathered up, sitting completely still and... watching paint dry? Was that fun? She didn't know, so maybe it was. But why were they so still? Why were they gathered together? Why were they corralled into a small group? Why did she get the feeling that so much was at stake?

What was going on?

Her answer came an instant later. One of the many hers inside had found something fun to do, in stark contrast to the lack of it that was in the room, and tried to show it to the rest of her friends. On the opposite side of the room a bird had flown by the window, making a small chirping noise. One of the hers shouted out and started pointing at it.

She watched the other her with enthusiasm, cheering her on silently to get the others to join in and do something silly.

And then that her, the one that pointed to the bird, disappeared. She was just gone. A small purple glow, a quick puff, a trail of light, and the enthusiasm and excitement that she had felt inside her as she watched the other her was gone, vanished.

She fell back from the window, landing on her rear. Something had gone through her chest as that other her had disappeared, something strange. She didn’t know exactly how to describe it, but it felt a bit like a portion of her chest had suddenly dropped, and then had the tiniest chip taken. Not much, but noticeable.

She shook her head, trying to ignore the queer feeling. It meant nothing, it was stupid, that was all. That was what she told herself as she put her head back to the window.

And the next her vanished, and another. One had tried to bounce and get another to watch. In that one swift action, both of those pink lovable excitable ponies were gone.

That feeling welled up inside her again, slightly stronger, but still ignorable. It was bothering her now. She was meant to be having fun. Was that feeling fun? No, it was something else, and she didn’t have words to describe it.

She managed to stay glued to the window, but barely.

And then four of them were gone, poofing off into thin air, a faint trail of light showing something leaving. An strange orange object had popped up on the window at the other side of the building and distracted them.

And then they too were gone.

The feeling started to spread, getting stronger and stronger. She fell from the window, not being able to hold herself up any more. Something about that feeling was actually making her weak. But what? She tried dragging herself back to the window but only managed a slow crawl.

And then it got stronger, and stronger, and stronger. She could hear faint noises coming from inside. The sound of the purple magic zapping, the excited cheering of the other hers as they found some fun in the boring room. She could even feel a tiny bit of that excitement coming from her doppelgangers.

And she could feel so, so clearly the loss as each and every one of them disappeared. The feeling got stronger, and stronger, and stronger, until it felt as if there was a hole inside her chest, sucking her in.

But the feeling didn’t stop there, it just kept growing, and the noises kept increasing, and the zapping grew more frequent, and the feeling grew, and the noises increased, and the zapping increased and increased and increased and increased and increased.

And then it stopped, and the feeling stayed. She was left lying in the ground, barely conscious in a pile of moistness. A strange sound was coming from her. It sounded a little like what that her from earlier had been doing, a mixture between a cough and a hiccup, or at least that’s what she had thought.

She opened her eyes, trying to figure out what had happened. Fun didn’t seem so important anymore, she needed to understand what that feeling was, that empty pit where her chest used to be.

The pony shakily stood, tentatively brushing loose strands of her mane away from her eyes and sniffling with her runny nose. She looked at the small puddle that she’d been lying in, and a brief flash of recognition flashed through her mind.

Tears.

Where had that word come from? It had just appeared in her mind from nowhere. Was that what made the puddle beneath her? She could see the faint reflection of something in the puddle, but what was it?

And then the last of her was gone, the hole in her chest turning into a chasm, a gaping maw that sucked the last of the light from her world. She felt every last moment as the last her in the building was zapped away, bursting and floating off on a breeze.

She wasn’t sure just how long she spent there, lying in that puddle of her tears, completely oblivious to the world. All she could feel was the horrible emptiness. For as long as she could remember, which wasn’t that far, she had been comforted by the noise of the other her, the excitement, the feelings, the slight sense she had of them.

Now? Now she had nothing. There was a void where her companions had been. The silence was unbearable. It weighed down on her, forcing her into the ground with unimaginable force. There was no enthusiasm, there was no excitement, there was no noise.

There was no fun.

It was just her. The last her. All of the others were gone, and she was the remnant of the greater whole.

She was dimly aware of her muffled sobs, the sound that she hadn’t recognised only a few seconds ago. The tears streaming down her face and onto the dirt.

All she could do was lie there, unmoving but for the slight movements that wracked her body, making her turn slightly on the ground.

And the silence went on and on and on and on and on and on...

And then something broke it, shattered it into a million pieces. The doors to the hall where the rest of her had disappeared opened gently, not hinting to the terror that had happened within. And hoofsteps, hoofsteps as well, softly walking away from the building. She could only quiver from her fallback of slight safety, trying to hide from the ponies that she knew were responsible for the disappearance of all the other hers. She only managed a slight peek, seeing five ponies. One blue, one yellow, one white, one orange.

One pink. Why was that one allowed if all of the others had to go? And why couldn’t she feel anything from her either? Was this pink one different?

If they found her, what would they do? Would they attack her? Be angry? Make her disappear as well?

But what if she didn’t want to disappear? What if she wanted to stay and live?

The hoofsteps, they were fading, fading.

And then they were gone, and the silence reigned again. She allowed herself a brief sigh, knowing that - at least for the moment - she had escaped her pursuers. She h-

But where would she go now? She didn’t have a home, she didn’t have any help, she didn’t have any friends.

What about inside! The feeling she had might have been wrong! There might still be another pony in there waiting for her! With that in mind, the pink escapee took a furtive glance around the corner of the hall before quietly sneaking inside, trying to attract the least amount of attention possible.

The inside was empty, the paint wall still sitting there at the back on the stage, the paint still wet.

She wasn’t there. Anywhere. There wasn’t a single pink rambunctious pony to be seen. She wasn’t laughing, or jumping, or running, or having fun, or living, or existing, or just being.

It was as if she was just gone, as if she was only a speck that had been brushed away from the floor. What could she do if there was no other her for her to talk to? Was she even meant to still be alive? All of the others must be dead if she couldn’t feel anything from them, or else they’d say something!

She let out a sigh, allowing herself to slump to the floor and drop her head. Her mane and tail let out a loud sound, as if all of the air had burst from a balloon in a second, and her mane fell in a single straight mop, flowing around and down her head, laying on the floor.

And then all she could do was sit, and wait. What for? Anything. She didn’t know what was supposed to happen now. In the space of a few minutes her whole world had been turned on its head.

And all because of those evil ponies, the ones that made her disapp-

“Oh, hey Pinkie! What are you doing back here? Aren’t you meant to be back with the others? I was only gonna hang back here for a while, maybe draft a letter to Celestia. You can head off if you want, I’ve got everything covered.”

She froze. That voice, it sounded vaguely familiar. She lifted her head slowly to face the owner and blanched, stiffening up.

A purple unicorn was walking onto the stage, her horn glowing as the wall of paint lifted off the floor and drifted backstage, floating out of sight.

But that wasn’t what made her so scared. It was the colour of the magic lifting the wall. That colour, the purple glow, the thing that had made the rest of her vanish.

This was her, this was the evil pony that had done it. She’d killed the rest of her in those few minutes, the worst time of her life. And now here she was, directly interacting with the pink pony, the pink pony that probably should have been erased with the rest of them.

The purple pony kept talking, not even looking at her as she lifted the wall. “You know, it’s great to have the real you back. I was scared that I might get the wrong one and get rid of you instead of the fakes. Boy am I glad that one worked out. It was a bit touch and go for a while too, I almost thought at the end there that...you know...”

She didn’t respond, trying to sneak out of the building as quietly as possible without being seen again, she didn’t want

The purple pony turned towards her. “Uhhh, Pinkie? Are you feeling okay? You look a little pale. What’s the matter? Something wrong? I hope you haven’t caught a cold or anything from sitting in the dirt all day.

“That was you, right? The one in the dirt? The one that gave me the idea for this? Wow, please tell me that was you, I’ll feel like such an idiot if it wasn’t.”

The pony trailed off, looking suspiciously at her. “Hey Pinkie, you’re being awfully quiet at the moment, everything alright there?” she said, a slight edge creeping into her voice.

What to do what to do?! She did the first thing she could, put on a grin and try to talk. “Uhhh, hehe, yeah! I feel... great, just great! Nothing more happy than me! I’m super dooper! Just happy to be,” she flinched, her grin fading for a moment, “Alive.”

She pulled the facade back up. “But uhhh, I’ve got some stuff to do, you know?I just got went here so I could find... This! I really needed to find this.”

“...Pinkie, that’s a pamphlet for last week’s sale at Quills and Sofas, are you sure that was what you were looking for? More to the point, what’s that even doing here?”

She looked at the paper in her hoof. Sure enough, it was a faded strip of material, bright colours trying to show up around the loud lettering. “Oh, yeah, I like to collect... pamphlets. It’s a really good hobby. Really fun you know?”

She started to edging towards the door, “And, uhh, I’ve got to find something now, maybe get some fun in and all, love fun. Uhhh,” she wracked her brain, looking for the right word, “Bye?”

But the pony looked like she bought it. “Oh, okay Pinkie, I know that you’re busy. You’d better get back to your own stuff, I’ve got a lot of cleanup to do after what happened earli-

“Wait a second, what did you just say?”

Oh no.

“Pinkie, don’t walk away for a second, can you come back here, I need to talk to you.” It wasn’t a question, it was a command. But she wasn’t going back there, not to that pony, not the one that had destroyed her.

So she did the only thing that she could do, she turned tail and ran, the purple pony still calling out to her, shouting that name that she’d heard so often, demanding that she stop.

But she wouldn’t, she couldn’t. She ran as fast as she could and as far as she could, getting lost in the maze of back streets that was the Ponyville residential area. She ran until she couldn’t run any further, all strength gone, and there she collapsed, falling onto her side in the corner of an alley, sides heaving with exertion. The sun had started to drift down on the horizon, a testament to how long she had been running for, getting more and more lost in the hopes of avoiding detection. But she had to keep moving.

Exhaustion caught up to her, taking away any strength that she had and making her movements sluggish. She knew she couldn’t move any further, and she had no other option but rest and recover, and eventually hope to find some way of escaping the deadly town and its killer ponies. But where could she run to? She didn’t know the layout of any places other than the rough image of Ponyville, and even there she was bad.

That didn’t matter, she would run wherever she could, pick a direction and stick to it, maybe hope to find some town or village that didn’t want her gone.

With a basic plan in mind, the pink pony let her head fall to the ground and curled up in the corner of the buildings, no shelter or protection but for the buildings on either side.

The last remnant of a larger portion settled down, letting her completely straight mane curl around her, nestling into it for any portion of warmth. And as she slowly drifted to sleep, losing consciousness, the tears flowed freely, soaking into her coat and pooling on the ground around her, unconsciously mourning for the loss of so many.

She may not have known much, but she knew something.

Fun wasn't looking so fun any more.

Joy

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Thanks for the support guys, it was amazing.

It was raining when she woke up. Or maybe that was why she woke up, she didn’t know.

She lifted her head slowly, trying to get a clue as to where she had spent the night. The rain obscured most from sight, but she could dimly make out the sides of the alley she was lying in. A small trickle of water ran past her head, running off to somewhere else.

And she was still alone.

The memories of the day before swept through her head. The running, the fun, the learning...

...The loss, the sadness, the heartbreak.

She felt that she was starting to understand what the pony yesterday had been going through, one of the ones that looked like her, the one that had been drawing in the dirt. She realised what she must have been feeling, what she must have been thinking.

And now she was gone too, gone with all the rest of the hers, except for the one that got away. Why did she get to live anyway? What made her special? Why was she different from the other? She didn’t look different, she acted almost the same.

So why was she not gone? Out of all of the other-hers, why did she continue on with her life?

She gave a heavy sigh, letting her head droop until it touched the ground again. The sun was barely visible, just a darkish brownish blob from beyond the clouds. A wind was blowing somewhere, the eerie howling of it audible as it rushed past the haphazard houses, making the few unlatched windows bang loudly.

It was depressing.

The phrase popped into her head, just like yesterday. There was no reason why it appeared, it just did, as bright as day. Depressing. It was the only word that seemed to sum up her attitude at the moment, the only word that she knew that came anywhere close to describing her outlook. She wasn’t having fun, she wasn’t joyous, happy, laughing, jumping, hopping, skipping...

She was sad. But was that word bad enough? No, it wasn’t. She was...

She was...

Really sad?

Another sigh, another shake of the head, another minute passing with no heed. She may have been crying, she may have been stoic, in the rain there was no way of knowing. It made her feel insignificant, like she wasn’t of real importance, just another tiny speck of dust that nopony would pay attention to, preferring to let it be swept away.

The raining continued, showing no sign of stopping. Was that what she was like? Was she just another raindrop being washed away? Being swept up and carried into a drain somewhere? Was she one of millions of identical copies?

It seemed so, there was no way that she wasn’t. There had been so many ponies that looked just like her, acted just like her, thought just like her.

But why? Why were there so many of her when there was only ever one of the other ponies? Why was she the one that was disposable, the one that was allowed to be thrown away carelessly?!

It just wasn’t fair...

She was crying now, she could feel the tears sweeping down her muzzle in the split second before they were washed away, just another droplet in a shifting and floating sea. The raining redoubled, as if accepting a sacrifice, bearing down harder than ever.

Maybe she could find somepony that could tell her the answer? Somepony who knew why all this was happening? Would they tell her?

Or would they make her disappear as well...

The image of the purple unicorn, her horn glowing as she banished the pink ponies, appeared in her mind. It was a terrifying memory, grief and confusion turning it into something that she imagined would be in a horror movie. Her horn was sharp, filed to a point. The purple light instead a writhing serpent of flame.

The neutrality in her face? That was the same. That hadn’t changed. The whole time she’d spent ‘getting rid’ of her images she hadn’t even stopped, hadn’t hesitated to question her actions at any point.

What kind of pony would do that?

Not the kind of pony that she would want to share a town with, not at all. She had to get away, find somewhere to hide, to lie low for a while, maybe hope that the whole thing would blow over eventually. She knew that it was an unlikely dream, but she had no choice. She looked like her, frizzy tail and all. Apparently that was bad if she wasn’t that other her, the one that was allowed to walk away unscathed.

The drenched pony staggered to her hooves, trying to force herself against the force of the rain falling and the weight of it soaked into her coat. It was almost dark, the rain was that heavy. The sun still hadn’t managed to penetrate the dark ceiling above, only barely spreading any light at all.

She had no idea where she was either. The backstreets of Ponyville could be like a maze, a labyrinth, the biggest trap. Ordinarily she might have been able to find her way out, if it hadn’t been raining, but the confusion of her running coupled with the torrential downpour scrambled any chance of her making a plan to get out.

It seemed that there was no other option but to walk, and hope that she would find herself in the open, and maybe, just maybe she would get out of the hell that was Ponyville, once and for all.

The clopping of her hooves on the cobblestone was completely lost, drowned out by other sounds, the banging of the unlocked windows, the whooshing of the rain, the faint gurgling of the drains as gallons of water poured through them every second.

Step, step, sigh, step, step, step, step, blink, step, step...

The monotony of her task started to wear in. She could only keep walking, and walking, and walking. There was no way of knowing her position, so whenever she came to an intersection she just picked a direction at random and set off again. The sheer size of the alley system started to get to her. She’d never realised just how winding and impossible it was. The designer had either been a genius...

...Or a very deranged pony.

And it was doing her no favours now. She just wanted to get out, to see a wide open plain, no other pony in site. No threats, no chances of a unicorn trying to make her disappear. Just space. Relaxation. Peace. No worries, nothing stressful. Just...

...Silence.

She froze, the word penetrating her sodden skull in an instant. Wasn’t silence the exact opposite of what she wanted? She wanted noise, movement, ponies, fun, happiness. But not silence. She felt that she’d had enough silence to last a lifetime, and she definitely didn’t want any more any time soon, preferably never.

But at the same time she didn’t want to see anypony...

What did she want?! Why was she so confused?! Why did nothing make sense?!

She slammed a hoof against the cobble, barely containing her annoyance while at the same time wanting to smack the wall so very very hard. Nothing was simple here! The facts were out of sight! She had to know why they wanted her gone in the first place!

For a moment, just a moment, she caught sight of her own image on the road in front of her. But it wasn’t another her, not in that way, it was just a reflection, undisturbed as it was sheltered underneath her wet form, hidden from the sky.

And it looked angry.

It looked like it wanted to attack, to rip, to tear, to vent the frustration. It looked like it wanted to kill, to break free. It looked like something that had suffered to the point of not suffering any more...

But that wasn’t what it was entirely. It also looked sad.

It looked like it wanted the terror to stop, the fear to end, the paranoia to cease. It looked sick, and tired, and hungry, and cold, and so so mistreated. It looked like a vagabond, a pony that nopony else would go near, a desperate pony that would stop at nothing...

But that wasn’t it either.

It looked lost.

Behind the face, behind the mask of pain and suffering and sadness, it looked lost. It looked like a pony that wasn’t sure what to do, a pony that had run out of options, whatever they were. It looked like a pony that just wanted a friend, just wanted a hug, someone else to lean on, to confide in, a shoulder to cry on.

It looked unsure, like the slightest change in plan would leave it questioning, wondering why something had happened the way it did. It looked like it had questions, but that nopony would answer them. It was wondering why, and how, and what, and when...

And then the moment was gone, and the puddle vanished. It was just another image of her that had been washed down the drain to disappear forever, still questioning, still unsure, wanting to know what it was feeling, not why. It hadn’t gotten to the stage of why, it just wanted simple answers.

She stared at the spot that the puddle had been in, still hoping that it would come back, just to give her another pony to look at, even if it was her. Anything was better than nothing. For a moment she thought that she saw a shadow fly overhead, but when she looked up it was gone, as if it wasn’t real.

Her mind had gotten to the stage that it was playing tricks on her too. She could almost imagine that she could hear other ponies talking, chatting amiably. But she knew enough to realise that that would never happen, not in this weather, in this area...

But the sounds were growing louder, and the rain was still there. Could it possibly be...

YES! She could hear them now! She could hear the ponies as they talked, as they walked. Their voices were muffled by the rain, sure, but she could still make out the sounds themselves, and she knew a pony’s voice when she heard it. She just had to walk towards the voice and she’d meet another pony and then she’d escape...

Then again, what if they didn’t want to help her? What if they just wanted her gone too, just like the others? Should she talk to them?

Maybe just a peek wouldn’t hurt...

Nervously, she tiphooved closer to the sounds of the voices, not that it would do much anyway, but it was the idea that counted. She could hear them growing closer. The ponies were on the move. But why? Why would a pony purposely wander around in the rain if there was no reason to be out? Another intersection was ahead, maybe they’d be near there?

She reached the turning and poked her head around the corner - only tentatively, so as to have the option of running - and it became perfectly clear.

It was the five ponies. Five ponies and her. They were searching every nook and cranny of the alley, the purple one at the lead with her horn aglow, lighting up the way. It was clear that they weren’t having fun, but at least they weren’t wet or anything, the purple one had a spell overhead stopping the rain.

And she was there as well, or at least the other her, the one that had gotten away. She seemed slightly pensive, another word that appeared to her. Why, she didn’t know, but she could only hope...

She knew that if they stepped out and into the rain, away from the light, that they’d become just as lost as she was. They had to stick together. Strength in numbers and all.

Six against one. Strength and numbers against weakness and loneliness. It wasn’t looking good. She immediately backed away, drawing in a sharp breath. This was bad. If those ponies found her she’d be in a lot more trouble than she already was, and that was about five times worse than the word bad, which was bad in itself, so it was...

No. Now wasn’t the time to get silly. She had to stay focused, figure out a way to disappear, but not in that way.

She looked around behind her, searching for any way to run that wouldn’t end in her getting more trapped and lost than she already was. The anxiety jumped up another notch as she started making out the words of the other ponies, drifting around the corner and through the rain.

“Come on!” one pony said, “We have got to search harder if we want any chance of finding it! There’s no knowing what it could be up to!”

It? What were they...

“I agree, darling. Fluttershy, if you want to find it you’re going to have to poke your head out from behind my mane eventually. Every moment that we delay only allowed that thing to get further a-”

Thing? What...

The prim voice stopped for a second, but came back in force. “Rainbow Dash! What do you think you’re doing! Get out of the trash can, there’s no knowing what is inside that thing!”

A clang filled the air, and she could hear garbage scatter before being swept away. “Exactly Rares,” the voice said, “But I thought I heard something! I think that it’s hiding near here!”

But she wasn’t...

“And I’m not giving up until I find it! It could just be around that corner for all we know!”

She gasped, clamping a hoof over her mouth to prevent anything from escaping, but it was too late, they must have been too close, or they must have had good hearing, or anything, because the voices abruptly stopped.

“Twi,” one voice said, the one that had been in the trash can, “Am I the only one that heard that?”

“Ah don’t think so RD, I heard it too. Twilight, turn up the amplification-magiggy on that spell of yours, see if we can’t hear this thing...”

A static noise filled the air for a moment before stopping, a slight whistling piercing the rain. She didn’t know what they were talking about, but she knew that it couldn’t be good, and she couldn’t let them find her, ever.

So she did the first thing that came to mind, the thing that she knew she’d be doing for a long time, possibly the rest of her life.

She ran. Again. She rain through the rain, ignoring the cold and the wetness that it brought with it. They were insignificant, they didn’t matter when she was being chased by ponies that wanted to get rid of her.

And she knew that they were chasing her. The moment that her hoof had hit the cobble to start her moving they’d shouted out in alarm. They knew she was there, and they were after her. The noises of their movements chased her too, pushing her to her limits in an effort to lose the hellish pursuers. She still didn’t know exactly why they were chasing her, and they didn’t seem like they were going to allow her any questions at all.

She had no choice but to keep going, and to hope for the best. She sprinted, her hooves beating a hasty staccato against the hard cobblestone surface, slippery from the rain.

And then she hit the wall. Literally. With the rain whipping against her face she hadn’t even noticed the sudden fork in the alley, not noticing it as it drew closer until it hit her. The report of her impact echoed around the enclosed space.

She slumped to the ground, not able to move, stunned. The impact had dazed her, and she’d collapsed right into a pile of what looked like garbage bags, the black material of them clumped up against her pink fur as she collapsed.

She heard the hoofsteps getting louder and louder. They were getting closer to her unwanted hiding spot, she knew that, but she didn’t know if they’d find her or not. The quivering pony could only hope that they would overlook her and move on, leaving her to whatever fate threw her way.

Then the hoofsteps slowed, and stopped altogether. It seemed like the six ponies knew where the trail stopped, and they were getting suspicious.

She started trembling.

She couldn’t quite hear what they were saying, their voices were being distorted by the rain, the bags around her and the stars spinning around her or, or at least what felt like it. They sounded like they were trying to figure something out, to decide something. One of them sounded like she was about to go and search every single bit of cover in the alley anywhere.

She trembled harder.

Visions flashed through her head of them finding her in various horrible ways. In one the blue pegasus would fly by and grab the bags, revealing her. In another, the purple magic would worm through her cover and pull her out slowly, savouring the anguish and pain...

And then another voice appeared. It was different from all the rest. It sounded panicked and shocked, and more than a little scared. It sounded like it was trying to get a message across to the other six ponies.

But what? Was the voice pointing out her hiding spot? Was it revealing her and telling the other to make her go away?

The thoughts flew out of her head as the sound of six pairs of hoofbeats running away reached her ears. Shaking the dizziness out of her head, she peeked out from the top of her hideaway and just caught the back ends of the six terrors as they disappeared into the rain.

Another pony was standing there, and she turned to face her, not even stopping to find her, she knew where she was all along. She was a pegasus, that much was obvious, a dull grey one at that. A blonde mane hung damp over one shoulder, and one of her eyes pierced the rain to look at her while the other wandered elsewhere. She had a small brown bag strapped across her flank.

And she did the strangest thing.

She smiled at her. It was an unsure smile, but it a smile at least.

The pegasus took another glance around before furtively streaking over to her, hidden away in her bags. The pegasus reached a hoof in and wrapped it around her, pulling her out and into the open.

She tried to struggle, but the pony put pressure around her and gripped tighter. “Shhh,” she said, “don’t make a fuss. We’ve got to get you out of here.” Her voice was urgent and clear, strangely calming.

The mysterious pony lead her in the opposite direction to the way that the others had gone before glancing around and going to the corner of the alley and stopping. The pink pony looked at her quizzically, but the grey pony just smiled and reached behind her.

She pulled a key out of her bag. A very small, brass key. The key was directed into a lock, which turned the mechanism, which released the catch, which opened the door in the side of the alley.

Her helper pulled her inside, quickly closing the door behind them. Instantly the sound of the rain cut off entirely, filling the place with silence.

But it was a good kind of silence, and she enjoyed it.

The inside of the house was small, but in a cosy way. Small armchairs were in various corners of the different rooms. Immediately in front of her there was a staircase, and two arches led off to other rooms, the crackling of a fireplace drifting through one.

She looked around in wonderment, trying to take it all in at once, an impossible feat in itself, but was interrupted as the pony turned to her.

The pegasus smiled, an amazing smile that seemed to light up the whole room and make it even brighter than it already was. But it looked a little nervous, and a little unsure.

But that didn’t stop the pony. “So,” she said, “I bet you’re wondering why I brought you here, and honestly? I’m thinking the same question.”

She sighed. “That doesn’t matter now, we’ve gotta get you all sorted, and then...” She trailed off.

“Then I’ll want to ask some things...”

Hope

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Thanks for the support guys, you've all been great. Oh, and if G-Docs tries to correct 'a lot' to 'alot', turn it down...

The relative silence was perfect.

For once she wasn’t finding the lack of noise to be a burden. It was actually good. It gave her time to think, to recover, to ponder and puzzle. It was great for her to come to terms with her situation.

But it wasn’t too silent. The crackling of the hearth filled the space, and the sound of a drink being brewed and food being cooked in the kitchen nearby melded together to create a beautiful harmony. Not too loud, not too soft.

The hospitality of the pegasus, no, Ditzy, was amazing. She had taken her in without asking questions and rescued her from the relentless pursuers. She hadn’t asked why she was out in the rain, or why she was getting chased, she just went with it and took in a pony in need. To be honest, she didn’t think that she’d be able to answer even if Ditzy did ask.

Ditzy was already her favourite pony. Out of everyone else that she knew this new pegasus was the only one that had shown her any affection, the rest had just shunned her and her images.

She sighed and relaxed into the couch, allowing the warmth to better permeate her freezing bones. The rain outside was still going strong, a torrential downpour that washed away anything and everything. The wind had actually picked up, whistling through the streets and creating an eerie howling noise, the unlatched windows still banging on walls.

But that all felt like another world to the pink pony. She was inside now, away from the harsh wind and the bone-chilling rain. She was inside, being helped by a pony for no other reason than the goodness in her heart.

Why couldn’t the other be like that? Why did they have to chase her, and persecute her for something that she had had no hoof in? She still didn’t know why they were chasing her, or why they had make her others disappear. She only knew that they had made them go, and that she was lonelier for it.

Why had the other-hers gone away? She could faintly remember a time when it was only her and one other, and then they’d realised that with only two of them it wasn’t as fun. The two of her both discovered, together, that things were much more fun with more ponies.

Then why did they all have to go again if things were better? Why couldn’t that purple unicorn see that she’d been having the time of her life? It was obvious that things were better with more having fun.

And why didn’t the other-hers realise what was happening?

That was the biggest question on her mind. If they were systematically disappearing, why didn’t they try to do something to try and escape? Why did they just sit there as if nothing was happening? She may not have been able to actually know what they were thinking exactly, but that didn’t stop her from getting the tiniest glimpse into their feelings.

And the only thing that she’d felt was fun. Throughout the whole day it was just fun fun fun, nothing else. Even when they were sitting there, vanishing through the actions of the purple one, they were still having fun. Sure, it was a competitive fun, but it was still fun. They thought it was a game, they thought that they were having fun. They didn’t question it, they didn’t argue, they just accepted it.

Come to think of it, the only her that hadn’t been having fun the whole day was the one that she’d found crying, sad for some reason. Why was she different from the rest? Why was it that, when she should have been having fun, she was sad? Did she know something? Something that the other-hers should have known?

More to the point, why didn’t she know what emotions the other-her was feeling when she met her? Why did she have no idea what sadness was, or loss, or grief, or mourning, or depression…

Why why why why why why?

There were so many questions, so many things that she didn’t know, so much to be discovered, to figure out, to explain. It was confusing to say the least. Here she was, being chased and running for her life, and she didn’t even know the reasons for it!

She didn’t ask for this! She didn’t ask to be chased, or to be hunted, or attacked, or yelled at, or to be sad!

She just…

She just wanted…

Fun…

Her face fell forward, her smooth, straight mane falling over her head and hiding her eyes. Her eyes were closed, determined not to shed any more tears. She’d already given enough.

But she couldn’t stop thinking about the other-hers, so naïve, so trusting, so unaware…

…so gone.

She could see them in her mind. These happy balls of fun. They were so lively in her imagination, bouncing around the walls of her head, laughing and enjoying themselves, so carefree, not thinking of the future but instead living for the present. They weren’t sad, they weren’t worried, they weren’t stressed, they weren’t confused. They just did what they knew.

They had fun.

She wanted that back. She wanted the ignorance. She wanted the simple life, just her and her images, having fun without a care in the world.

But that dream was just that: a dream. That time in her life was already gone, replaced by anguish and despair. Why did it have to go? Why did the purple unicorn have a problem with the other-hers doing what they did best? They didn’t even know anything else!

Oh, but what was the use anymore…

She sighed heavily and leaned back in the couch, her eyes closed. She looked peaceful, and any pony that looked at her might have thought that she was sleeping, so quiet and relaxed.

But on the inside she was in turmoil. Her mind raced furiously trying to figure out something. She raged, she screamed, she puzzled.

And she didn’t come to any useful conclusion. She just didn’t know enough to figure out the one question that she wanted answered.

Why.

Why did these things happen.

Why was she chased.

Why did she have all of these feelings.

Why was she alone.

Why did the others want her gone.

Why was Ditzy showing sympathy when nopony else would.

And the answer? Nothing. She didn’t know. She just had to accept that these things were happening, and that she had no control over them whatsoever. Her actions were next to futile.

Why couldn’t her life have just stayed simple? Why did it have to be so very very complicated? What was wrong with just letting her go, forgetting about the whole mix up in the first place?

She just wanted somepony to understand…

The silence stretched on indefinitely. The crackling fire burned, the rain fell quietly, the wind howled, and life went on without her. She really had nothing to do but accept that she was being chased, and that nothing she could do would change that at all.

Her eyes snapped open. She needed something to do, no matter what it was, just to get her mind off what was happening. For a moment she stared at the fire, letting its dancing entrance her for a while, the deep red flickering over her eyes.

She tore her eyes away, scanning the room around her. There had to be some sort of activity that she could partake in. A board game? Didn’t look like there was one. Drawing materials? Nope, nothing there.

Books? Plenty.

The pink pony sat up and – with difficulty – removed herself from the heavenly couch, promising to return to it later. The bookshelf in the corner of the room beckoned to her. Ordinarily she might have found something better to do, but there really was nothing, and she did not want to risk going outside, not when those ponies were out there looking for her.

She searched the bookshelf for an interesting spine, a name that would jump out at her, a name that she knew.

Nothing. There wasn’t a single familiar name on anything. But why would there be? She couldn’t remember plenty of things. She hadn’t even known what those ponies were called, and they were supposed to be her friends!

Supposed to…

Shaking the thought out of her head, she redoubled her efforts to find anything interesting. Absolutely nothing caught her attention, but there had to be something! She had to have some memory of a book, some memory of anything! How would she not know any of the titles?! She couldn’t even bring up a name of a book that she had read once upon a time!

Why couldn’t she remember these things?

Why didn’t she have these memories?

Why would names slip out of her head?

Why was her life foggy, her recollections faded?

More why, piling up in her head, hundreds of questions that needed to be answered but couldn’t. It frustrated her, made her angry, made her furious.

And it made her sad, and insecure, and scared.

She slammed a hoof against the bookshelf, her head resting on the side of it. She practically slumped on it, barely holding herself up. Looking back up at the books, she tried her futile search again, her vision suddenly clouded by something wet.

“No,” she whispered, “no. There’s got to be something here.” Even to her ears it sounded weak and uncertain.

“No, “ she repeated, “No, no, no, no…”

It became a mantra to her, a phrase that she uttered over and over again as she turned the bookcase inside out, reading each spine over and over in the hope that it might spark some sort of memory in the deepest recesses of her mind.

And not a single memory emerged. Nothing answered her call, and the mantra was repeated again, and again, and again…

And again…

Finally she slumped to the ground, not even bothering to stand up properly. What did it matter where she sat anyway, she would still have the same thoughts regardless. And those thoughts were not nice, or comforting, or welcome in the least. Instead they were cruel and harsh and threatening. And all the while she kept trying to bring up memories.

And still none came.

With an exception.

A scene played through her head. It was like watching a projection, realistic and life-like as it was…

Another her, the memory-her, was hopping along, uncaring, unwanting, just happy to be having fun. And then she tripped on something and stumbled. What was it?

It was another her, but it was different. It was experiencing feelings that none of the others had. She was sad, and they were happy. But why? Why was this one sad? The memory-her was trying to talk to the sad pony. Couldn’t she see that the pony didn’t want to talk? See that the pony was sad, not looking for fun?

Why didn’t the memory-her understand what the other-her was feeling?

Why was she thinking differently to the memory-her, the way she had thought only a short while ago? What had changed in the interim? Lots of things. But what had changed in her thoughts? She could almost hear herself think.

And then she heard, and it scared her.

Fun! Fun! Fun! Find fun! Fun, nothing else! Fun’s the only thing that matters!

Unfun? Is that what she’s having?

No! Can’t you see that she’s sad? She wants to be left alone!

She’s unfun! I’ll talk to her! Maybe she’ll have some fun with me!

No! Just leave her alone! She doesn’t want fun at the moment!

Hmmm, that’s weird, but she sad that she wants to be left alone… Is that fun?

No… it’s not… it’s not fun… Why won’t you listen to me?!

Oh well! That must be her idea of fun!

Can’t you hear me! It’s not fun! It’s not fun! She’s not having fun!

Meh, I’ll ask her if she wants fun later! I’ve got fun to find!

Stop, please stop, you’re scaring me…

Fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun! Where’s fun? Fun? I want fun, is there fun here?

Stop asking for fun! Ask for something else, anything! Please!

Huh, a forest? That’s… different, but still fun! Now where’s the fun hiding? Fun? Where are you? Huh? That was weird…

What? What’s weird, what’s happening?

Climb the tree climb the tree. Search search…

There! Go! Run! Find fun in Ponyville! Where’s everypony else? Meh, maybe they’re having the fun I want! Which way… Blue and pink! Follow them!

Oh no, no, not this again. I don’t want it. I don’t want it!

Ooh, big building. I wonder if it has fun? Wow, that looks like a weird game! Wha-

What’s this?

No. Don’t.

Ooh, that looks like fun! And I wan-

I don’t want-

Huh? What’s that feeling? Feels weird… Oh, it went away kinda. That’s good-

That’s bad-

Wow, that feelings getting strong now, what is it? This isn’t fun right? I want fun, not this! This doesn’t feel right! Make it sto-

Stop, please stop!

I don’t want to feel it again…

Please…

Please…

Make it stop…

She could hear the memory still, quietly playing in her mind. The memory-her’s thoughts were in complete shambles, breaking apart at the seams. Any semblance of structure was quickly disappearing, and the mindless chant of fun had derailed, the thoughts and emotions changing, evolving.

In short, she was unrecognisable. The image of the bright and happy pony had vanished completely, replaced by a picture of a snivelling wreck, collapsed upon the ground.

And the fireplace crackled in the background, and the rain continued regardless.

The memory retreated, the haze of recollection fading away. But the picture of the distraught pony didn’t, it stayed and sat there, an ugly stain on a bright canvas of a room.

And then the pony felt a small pressure on her leg. It was just the slightest touch, but it was enough to distract her.

She lifted her head up from the floor, uncurling after her horrifying experience. Her hair was damp and matted, her mane tangled and messy, her eyes red and bloodshot.

The source of the pressure backed up slightly, recoiling at the sight of her.

The source being a small foal.

She was a light grey unicorn, a blonde mane just like Ditzy, and she was only very young from the look of her. She gave a hasty smile and tried to mask the shock she’d gotten from seeing another pony – a grown mare nonetheless – curled up on the floor crying.

The pink pony wiped her nose and cracked a smile, trying to pass off the incident like nothing. She didn’t want a filly getting involved in her situation.

“Hi,” she said softly, rising from the floor, “uhhh, what’s your name?”

The filly relaxed slightly, “My name’s Dinky!” She paused, “and what are you doing here?”

Dinky’s eyes narrowed, “Are you a robber?” She jumped into a ‘fighting’ pose, “’cause if you are…” she trailed off threateningly.

She just watched the filly, chuckling slightly, all worries gone. The sheer excitement and happiness that this one pony exuded was intoxicating. She was like a powerhouse of youthful energy.

She smiled softly. “No,” she said, “I’m not a robber.” She paused, wondering what to say. “I’m just… lost.”

The filly grinned. “Why didn’t you say so? I’ll go a-“

“Dinky! Where are you? Dinner’s ready!” a voice called through the kitchen doorway. Ditzy walked through a moment later and froze, an unsure look on her face.

“Ahh, Dinky,” she started, “I see that you’ve met our new guest.”

Dinky nodded enthusiastically. “I sure did! She’s cool and stuff! Oh oh! And she’s lost too! I was thinking that we could help her find her home!”

The pegasus smiled gently, “I’m sure that we will. In the meantime however, you’ve got some dinner to eat, and then I’m thinking it’ll be time for you to go to bed, hmmm?”

Dinky groaned, “But mum!”

“No buts, you go and start eating, I’ve got to talk to… Pinkie here for a second…”

Dinky hurried out of the room, grumbling under her breath. She shot one last glance at her before exiting, a look that said ‘this isn’t over yet!’

The pink pony smiled and sat down on the couch again, wiping the last of the tears from her eyes. Ditzy sat down on another couch and stared into the fireplace, the reflection visible on her wonky eyes.

Ditzy Doo sighed and smiled at her, her face lighting up. “I see that you’ve met my daughter, Dinky.”

The pink pony looked towards the kitchen. “Yeah,” she said, “I did. She’s very… fun.” She tried to hide the involuntary shudder as she said the word.

Ditzy nodded, “That’s one way of describing her.” She paused for a second and grew serious. “She’s been through a lot, that filly, and I’ve been through a lot with her…

“But she’s mine at the end of the day, and I love her, and nothing will change that…”

Ditzy looked at her. “You remind me a lot of Dinky. You look like you’ve been through a lot, and I can’t help but feel that you probably need my help in some way. Would I be wrong in saying that?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so… I’m… lost, and I’m not sure what to do…”

Ditzy nodded. “Okay, I can understand that. What I want to know here is, why were you being chased? I want to know why a pony like you would be in an alley in the middle of a storm.”

She didn’t know what to say, she didn’t have the answer. For at least a minute she just sat there, trying to think of a reason. “I’m not sure why they’re after me…” she said eventually, “I just… I just don’t know where I went wrong…”

The pegasus gave a concerned look. “I don’t quite like the sound of that, sounds like some ponies are jumping to conclusions.” She leaned over a rested a hoof on the pink pony’s shoulder. “Just remember that if you need any help, I’ll be there, okay?”

She looked like she was going to say more, but a shout interrupted her.

“Mum!” said the voice, “I finished dinner! Can you read me a story before bed?”

The pegasus turned slightly. “Did you finish your lettuce?”

“...Yes?” the voice shouted in reply.

Ditzy shook her head in mock annoyance before turning to face her. “I’m sorry, I’ve got to read her a quick bedtime story or she won’t fall asleep.”

She was almost out of the room before she turned around. “Just… think about what I’ve said, okay?” She then turned to the corridor. “I’m coming, Dinky! Hang on a sec!”

The pink pony was left in the room, alone. But she didn’t feel alone at all. She’d just had the kindest offer put forward to her by a complete stranger, and she knew that if things got worse that she’d have a pony to lean on for support.

Her eyes teared up again, but not for the usual reason. She was happy and relieved. She felt like the end might just be in sight. She owed so much already to the motherly pegasus, and she had no way of ever repaying it. She’d saved her life already, and now she was doing more.

She sent a glance towards the doorway that Ditzy had walked out of and silently thanked her, before curling up on the couch and letting the warmth of the fireplace seep into her and rock her to sleep.

Thank you Ditzy, she thought, thank you for everything.

Maybe I’ll have a chance in this after all…

Giggle

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Huge thanks to Piedol, my super awesome editor. Go check him out.

Fuzzy images danced a delicate ballet in the corners of her vision, weaving in and out of the fog. It was impossible to make them out in detail, but the blurry outlines superimposed on the back light that shone through the mist.

She was running, and they were chasing. The ragged breathing in her ears was the only thing audible in the whole of the hellish place. The figures in the mist were completely silent, not even a hoofstep echoing, wraiths of the fog.

Something crunched underhoof, something firm, something solid. She only managed to get a quick glance at it before she was past it, running onwards.

It looked pink.

Another crunch, another glance, another glimpse at something pink, and fluffy, and still. The noises were getting closer together now, the mist closing in, the chasers getting closer. They were making noise now, a ghastly mix of shouting and screaming. They seemed angry about something, but what?

It was getting harder to move now. The pink things on the ground were getting more dense, cluttering up the space around her, making it harder for her to move. It was getting crowded, the panic starting to set in.

And then something caught her leg. It had gotten tangled with one of the things on the ground, pulling her down in an instant. Whatever it was had a good grip on her. She tried to pull her hoof away but whatever had her was too strong, it wouldn’t budge, and when it did it would snap back into place a moment later.

She looked at her leg, her eyes frantically searching for the cause, before settling on what had dragged her down.

It was pink. It was fluffy. It was a hoof. In fact, it was a lot of them, all reaching towards her own leg and grabbing on, refusing to let her run on. But it was the owners that scared her.

Each one was a pink pony, lying on the ground. Each one was obviously incapacitated, wounds and abrasions covering their bodies. Each one was moving slowly, turning the ground into a shifting floor of bodies.

And each one had an enormous, terrifying grin on its face. Their faces were completely neutral, but their mouths were stretched to their limits, threatening to tear their faces asunder. None of their eyes moved, every single one being focused on her, the pony in their grasp.

The figures in the mist continued uninhibited, their noises getting louder. A shriek filled the space around her, a terrible noise, the noise of a hunter closing in on its prey. They were closing on her, drawing nearer with each heartbeat, with each bated breath, each hurried blink. The hair on her neck stood on end, her blood temperature plummeting in a second. The instinctive fear that came from being chased was settling over her, an unwelcome and stifling blanket of mindless terror.

She turned her head, snapping it around to see the things in the mist. They were almost in the clear now, all five - no, six - of them. Six of them. But that was all there needed to be, six would easily be the end of her.

They were stepping out of the mist now, but the fog stayed. Their images were blurred, still indistinct for some reason. All that she could see of them were dark shifting shapes. vaguely pony shaped, but they were horrible jokes of the originals. Instead of peaceful fur and hooves these things were all sharp teeth, claws and slitted eyes, only red sunken pits in what might have been the heads.

They let out a quick yell of triumph, all of them in perfect coordination, the same way that a pack of wolves might chase a defenceless animal. They surrounded her - not that there was any need to, she was still being held down - and started prowling around in a small circle, closing in slowly.

One of the six stopped, the rest of them stopping at the same time, still in perfect unison. It walked towards her, the eyes blazing bright red holes in its head, smouldering coals completing the demon visage. It was staring right at her, as if trying to hear her thoughts. She shuddered.

It had something protruding from its head. Something long, something dark and smoky, something sharp.

And it was wreathed in a dark glow, the edges of the glow releasing wisps out of the mass and into the air around it. Whenever a wisp touched one of the hideous grinning ponies it vanished, the smile not even wavering for a moment, even as it was the only thing left, a bodiless smile hanging in the air. It was facing her, burning the image into her mind.

The appendage with the glow drew closer, the beast’s mouth opening, revealing massive fangs, each one dripping with venom. Black venom. Further down its gullet she could see an orange glow, a clue to the fire that burned within. She shrunk down and away from the dark beast that loomed overhead, her fur standing on end.

In the last moment, just before the dark glow touched her, she could see each of the other-hers. Not a single one of them moved, each staying completely still, even as the excess mist dripped onto them and dissolved them into nothingness.

But their smiles remained, each one a burning after-image superimposed upon the empty air, a reminder of what once was. She could faintly hear an echo of laughter hanging on the nonexistent wind. A whimper escaped her mouth, but the laughter continued regardless, and the mouths smiled wider. She tried to close her eyes, but even when she did she could still see.

And then a hoof descended from nowhere, a hoof attached to the thing with the appendage, and it travelled towards her face, reaching its destination...

...And then she was gasping for air, desperately trying to pull in lungfuls of the precious substance around her. Something was shaking her, trying to get her attention. Instinctively she felt her right hoof shoot up and collide with the blurry thing above her, connecting with something solid.

And then that thing let out a gasp of pain and fell back, massaging the injury. “HEY!” the thing said, still trying to rub feeling into its injured muzzle, “Why the hay did you do that?!”

The words went into her head, and she heard them, but they just didn’t make sense. The world around her was still blurry and indistinct, details fuzzy and distorted. There was a warm orange glow coming from somewhere, but that was the most that she could make out. For a few moments she just thrashed about, still caught in her night-terror.

Her chest heaved and shook as she tried to calm down, to figure out what was happening. The images of the dark beasts chasing her was fresh in her mind. Everything was there, the sounds, the smell, the look, the fear.

And then she blinked the tears out of her eyes and the world cleared, the veil of obscurity lifting. There was an instant moment of relief as the familiar surroundings fell into focus, triggering memories of warmth and comfort, and relief and help. She was back in the living room, a dusty shaft of orange sunlight shooting through the open window.

She shook her head violently, trying to erase any trace of the haze of sleep, and hopefully the half-remembered dreams that came with it. They were still clear in her head, each horrific moment of it seared into her brain. She tapped her head again, trying to dislodge the memories, or even just damage herself in any way that would stop them from being recalled.

A pressure on her shoulder made her thoughts go out the window. The thing that had been standing over her was there again, but it wasn’t a thing. Instead, it was just a concerned looking Ditzy Doo with a frown on her face.

She released a breath that she hadn’t even realised she was holding, letting herself relax slightly into the grasp of the worried pony. It was a wonderful feeling, having somepony actually care for her.

She gave Ditzy a small, sad smile. “Thanks,” she said, “I needed that...” She trailed off, letting the sentence hang in the air unfinished.

The grey pegasus grunted quietly and looked into her eye, prying her eyelids open and peering in. A flashlight wouldn’t have gone amiss. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay? Nightmare or something?”

“Yeah, just a bad... dream.”

Ditzy slid away, her hooves returning to her sides as she kept looking at her. “You sure and all?” Her eyes narrowed for a moment before she shrugged, eyes losing focus. “Not my business. Anyway, I was gonna wake you up for breakfast, want to some food?”

She walked out of the room, leaving her to think. The images of the things in the mist were still lurking behind her eyes, and their wailings were echoing inside her head.

And the smell of fresh food was wafting from the kitchen, and that beat all other thoughts into submission. She decided to sideline the whole ‘mental destruction and/or subliminal message’ thing and focus on what was important at the moment: food.

She got off the couch and started to make her way into what could only have been the kitchen. The whole house was quiet, the fire having gone out a long time ago, leaving only ashes, and the rain having faded away an unknown amount of time ago. She hurried into the other room.

Inside was the most beautiful thing that she had ever seen. A table was there, and it was good, but not amazing. A fridge and stove was there, but those weren’t amazing either.

There was food, and it was glorious. Her stomach rumbled eagerly, impatient to have anything to eat after being starved for at least a day. Come to think of it, she’d never really had anything to eat.

Food for thought.

She giggled quietly at the mental image of her actually eating her thoughts, and filed them away for later. Maybe she’d try that, when all this was over...

She practically leaped over to the table, Ditzy already sitting on the other side. The whole thing was filled with porridge and hay sandwiches... and muffins. A simple breakfast. And at the moment, there was nothing that looked better. She gave her donator a grateful glance across the table.

They were about to start eating when a small sound came from another room, a banging noise. The door. Ditzy’s hoof froze, incredibly close to one of the muffins, and she gave it a mournful look before standing up and moving towards the doorway. “Hang on,” she said, “I’ve just gotta go get this, might be one of Dinky’s friends.”

She shrugged and watched as the other pony walked out, one ear trained on the doorway unconsciously, trying to hear the conversation. She didn’t hesitate to give herself a hearty helping of porridge and grab one of the sandwiches, leaving the muffins for Ditzy when she got back, she’d appreciate that.

Her spoon was so close to the bowl when she heard a voice. Or rather, many voices. And they were very familiar.

“Oh, hi Ditzy” one said. “We’ve just here to check out some leads, and we think that you could help us!”

“Yes dear, we’re still looking for that clone that ran amuck, I’m sure that you know all about that, so you’ll understand why we’re so involved in this.”

“Yeah! We’ve been all over Ponyville already! Seriously, I mean everywhere, like, everywhere everywhere! Still haven’t found it! Not even a glimpse or anything! So stupid...”

“I mean, it’s hard to find. You wouldn’t know where it it, would you? If you have spare time...”

The pink pony paused, and she quietly pushed back the chair to stand up. She walked out of the kitchen, slowly peeking around the corner to the door. Ditzy was blocking the doorway, but she caught a glimpse of something purple, and that was enough.

It was them, and they were closing in. She screwed her eyes together, trying not to panic, forcing herself to take deep breaths. They couldn’t be here, not now, not ever. How had they even managed to find her anyway? They should be... somewhere else! And they just had to come when she was about to eat something too! What kind of pony would interrupt breakfast?!

Ditzy was saying something. “...appened anyway? Never heard, I was delivering to Canterlot, urgent stuff you know...

“Did something go wacky again?”

One of the ponies started to say something, but was cut off by Ditzy. “Actually, why don’t you come in and sit down. Try the lounge room, I’ll bring you something to drink. Oh! And don’t worry about the mess. I had Dinky down there last night. She was doing... kid stuff, you know? Yeah, just come on in, I’ll be a second.”

The pink pony backed hastily away from the door and back into the kitchen, a hoof on her mouth to cover any noises that she might make. A second later Ditzy walked in, looking slightly confused and a little concerned.

The pegasus stopped next to her and paused. “Are those the same ponies from last night? I didn’t get a good look at them at the time.”

She hesitated. “Yeah. Those are the ones.”

The pegasus nodded. “Oookey. So you’ve got the Elements of Harmony, the ones that keep saving Ponyville, chasing you. Huh. And you’re absolutely sure that it’s bad if they find you?”

The pink pony nodded slowly. “I don’t know exactly what, but it’s... not good...”

Ditzy sighed. “I wish you could explain this to me properly, but if you’re right then I’ve got to help you. Let me think...” Ditzy waited for a second before calling out, “Hey, anyone want any drinks? You all comfy?” A chorus of replies came from the adjacent room, the owners not visible from around the corner. Ditzy nodded and bit her lip “I'm still not sure about this, they're the Elements of Harmony and all...

Her eyes hit the floor. "I’ll try to keep them occupied, you just get out of here and run, try to find the mayor, anyone that can help. Tell them what’s happening, I dunno, I haven’t done this before.”

She tried to utter her thanks, but the pegasus clamped a hoof over her mouth. "Don't mention it. I like to help. Or at least try...

"But after this is over, I'll be wanting an explanation."

She was ushered to the other side of the kitchen, another door leading back around the house in a circular route. “Try to sneak out the front door when they’re distracted, it’s the only way out. I’ll do whatever I can.” WIth that she withdrew her hoof and walked back to the stove to grab some cups and brew drinks.

She turned to the doorway and started sneaking through the next room. It was filled with small knick-knacks and mementos, photographs lining the shelving and cupboards. She quickly passed through this and quietly moved onto the next.

It was what looked like another lounge room, but it was also filled with toys and books, and leisure room by the looks of it. She walked through and stopped, not wanting to move too quickly past.

It was the exit to the room, and the only thing further was a staircase and the door outside, as well as the doorway to the lounge room proper, the place where the six ponies were sitting. She could hear what they were saying from within...

“Do ya think that we’ll find the varmint?”

“Yeah we will! She’ll never be able to escape Equestria’s-”

“-Number one flyer, we all know, you’ve said it enough times dear.”

“Oh, I hope that she won’t be angry or anything... I don’t want to be rude...”

“Are you crazy?! Why the hay would she be angry! If anything she’s probably playing hide and seek, probably thinks this whole thing is a stupid game!”

“Ooh! Hide and seek? That sounds like-”

“Pinkie!” they all chorused.

Their conversation was interrupted for a second as Ditzy walked back in, carrying a tray by the sounds of things. This was her cue. She tip-hooved slowly through the doorway and reached her hoof forward to edge the door open. There was a terrifying moment where the handle squeaked, but over the clinking of cups nopony heard. And then the door was open and she was through, gently closing it on the other side.

The alley didn’t seem as scary as it had yesterday. It was still wet, sure, but the lack of cold and rain made the whole place brighten up tremendously. Nopony was around, a testament to how isolated this area was in spite of it looking better. She almost let out a sigh of relief, but caught herself just in time, remembering that she was still in danger. Nevertheless, she couldn't stop her steps from having a little spring in them, and a little giggle.

She was nearing the end of the alley when the door opened.

Her heart froze, her breath quickening. Adrenalin surged into her system, in preparation for an escape. She snuck a look behind her and saw something, something pink, something that looked like her.

The pony wasn’t looking at her yet, it was just standing in the doorway talking to itself. It was still. And then it exploded into motion, spinning around and jumping, twirling and bouncing.

And then it stopped. And looked right at her.

She didn’t wait to hear what it had to say. She didn’t hesitate. She didn’t question. She just ran. She took Ditzy’s advice and tore off, not looking back. She couldn’t even hear the pony that looked like her.

But just as she reached the end of the alley she did look back, and what she saw confused her. The other-her was just standing there. It wasn’t trying to chase her, or find her, or talk to her. It was just standing there, watching her sadly.

But she still didn’t stop. She had to find another source of help. Ditzy wouldn’t be safe anymore, the ponies had already been there, and the other-her had seen her, and would no doubt tell the others.

So she just ran, and looked for the nearest official looking building, apartment, anything, anywhere that could have somepony in power. If she could find somepony that had influence then maybe, just maybe they could help her.

It was still relatively early in the morning, and most of the ponies in the town were still inside, or else asleep. But there were the few that were already about, the early risers. She emerged from the alley running blindly, not even realising that she was out until she stumbled over a bump in the road.

She took a moment to get her bearings before setting off, not waiting for any of the other ponies to chase her. There had to be a building around somewhere. She was walking in the shadows of the houses and shops, the shadows cast by the rising sun hiding her to an extent. Even so, there was the occasional pony that would see her, that would just stop and stare at her as she walked past, some actually moving to the other side of the street.

She kept her head down and kept walking, trying not to make eye contact with the ponies passing by. It was much easier to find her way in the more open space rather than the alleyways of Ponyville, and before long she was drifting off slightly, the easy navigation letting her mind wander off. Right up until she bumped into a building and fell over. She snapped out of her slight daydream - breakfast - and looked at the building. There was a small sign that read-

“Mayor Mare’s Office. Perfect.”

She knocked on the door, sneaking a glance behind her to see if anypony was watching, and to see if the chasers had found her yet. Nopony else in sight, brilliant.

A few seconds passed before a soft stomping noise could be heard. The door opened and-

“You’d better have a great reason for interrupting my sleep th- Oh, hello Pinkie, just the pony I need to see.”

A small grey earth mare was standing there, something approaching pince-nez glasses perched upon her muzzle. She was smiling at her for some reason. “Now, I know this might be the wrong time, but I do need to talk to you about fixing the town after yesterday, there were some minor breaks.

“I trust that the extra - clones? - were sorted out, correct?”

The Mayor didn’t even wait for an answer. “No, I know they were, you’re always so reliable, the six of you. Just glad to have the original back, huh? I guess you could say that... Wow, nothing much to do with that one. Anyhoo, will you be free sometime today to talk the repairs over? Some of those clones could really get into trouble with their ‘fun’. What do you say?”

She froze. Something in the back of her mind was nagging at her, telling her that if she went into the office with the Mayor something bad would happen. And what was this about clones and causing damage?

Something doesn't add up here...

She stood still, indecisive. “Uh, you know what?” she hurriedly thought of something to say, “Sorry Mayor, but I really need to be somewhere. Sorry about that, busy and all. I'll talk to you later maybe! Bye!"

She tore off through the streets, the Mayor eyeing her retreating form with something approaching confusion, before shrugging it off, accepting the strangeness. She only slowed to a trot when the building was out of sight. It was clear that something bigger was at hoof. The Mayor’s words were worming into her mind. What did she mean by clones? There weren’t any clones about, were there?

Were there?

She would have noticed any clones around town, it wasn't really an easy thing... to...

Miss...

Hang on, what about her? Just yesterday...

Oh no... The other-me's...

It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true. She refused to accept it. She wasn’t a clone, she was real. She had hooves, she had a mane, she had feelings, she thought and learned, and laughed and ate cupcakes!

But a small part of her mind was arguing with her, telling her that once that hadn’t been true, once she had been a shell of a pony, absolutely no thoughts and feelings apart from one:

Fun.

But it just couldn’t be true. She wasn’t a clone! She wasn’t she wasn’t she wasn’t! She couldn’t be! Why would she be a clone of another?!

And if she was...

There couldn't be any other alternative, she had seen a bunch of identical ponies before, so it had to be her. ANd all of them were gone now!

But she wanted to stay! She wanted to live! She wanted to learn, to experience more!

No. She wasn't just a clone. Even if she had been at some point, she wasn't now. If the others couldn't accept that then they would just have to get over it. She was not going away. She was not just another clone. She had to show them.

Unconsciously, her gaze drifted upwards from the town and searched, searched for the city in the mountains. She found it in the distance, a massive construct that clung to the steep peaks like a parasite, refusing to let go.

But it was what resided in the city that she needed. It was the cradle of power in Equestria from what she knew, home to the two most powerful individuals in existence, the ones that were consulted when nothing else would do. A memory of Ditzy drifted into her mind.

Try to find the Mayor, anyone that can help.

The Mayor was out of the question, she didn’t seem like she would help. But there might be another...

The mountain in the distance would be her new goal. If she couldn’t talk to the Mayor... Well, she’d just have to go to a slightly higher power than a local town. Then she would be able to show them.

But how would she get there? There was only one efficient way of getting there, considering the distance, that much was obvious to anypony. A train station existed near the edge of Ponyville, and the trains that ran from there would get a pony to the city in no time at all. She had to get on that train. Her mind was going a million miles a minute, and the thought caused her to give a slight chuckle in spite of things. Her mind couldn't actually move that fast...

No, concentrate.

She sprinted towards the station, some part of her irrationally scared that the ponies chasing her would have already caught on, even if they had no clue what she was doing. Nevertheless, she still ran, and reached the station within a few minutes of flat out sprinting.

There was a train berthed there. It was a beast of a steam train, a freight construction by the looks of things, not meant for pony passengers. That wouldn’t stop her. She had to get to that city, and that was the first stop on the line after all, in fact the only one in that direction if the location of the city was anything to go by.

She snuck in the shadows, clinging to the buildings. Conductors and station masters were scampering about, fiddling and fine-tuning the train before its departure. Steam was already starting to fill the platform and a whistle went off, temporarily deafening all of the ponies on the platform and making them stumble about.

And then the train was ready to leave the station, and she knew that she had one chance. She darted from her cover and dashed towards the steam-driven beast. A yell reached her ears as one of the station workers spotted her, but she didn't stop for him, nothing would have a chance of doing that. One of the carts was slightly open, a fully enclosed cart with a sliding door. She didn’t question it, she just dived in, and her nose was assaulted with the scent of apples.

The cart was full of the things, piled in baskets littered everywhere, structured orderly. It wasn’t perfect, but it would do to get her there.

She curled in between the baskets and lay down, trying to hide in case some pony else came by, resting her head as the train started to roll away from the platform. The yelling pony was drowned out by the steam and the noise, the driver had obviously missed him. She watched as Ponyville grew smaller and smaller along with the platform. There was a faint compulsion to just jump from the train and get lost in the countryside, never to be seen again, but she had to see the Sisters, had to finish it.

So she drew her gaze away from Ponyville and lay her head down to rest before the arduous task was to begin.

She would have to not only get an audience with the two most powerful ponies - both politically and in the literal sense - in existence.

And she had to do it before those other ponies could catch her.

The day had only just begun, and already it was looking perfect. She hadn’t even had anything to eat.

Seek

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Well, here it is, the new chapter. Sorry for the long wait, but many technical problems, mainly with my internet, slowed me down, as well as le unexpected lack of enthusiasm. Thanks for the patience.

Confusion. Confusion and movement everywhere around her. Everything had to change, everything had to shift. Nothing could stay constant at any time. A free space? That was gone in an instant, occupied by yet another pony in the haphazard throng that was Canterlot.

She probably should have seen it coming really.

Oddly enough, the huge city hadn’t seemed like that at first glance. The train had been approaching, the movement slowing. A train station was easily visible from outside the city, but anything within the walls was completely hidden from sight. She could see the tops of the buildings, but the ponies themselves were out of her view. That shouldn’t be a problem, she had thought, there can’t be that many ponies in Canterlot, it is the capital after all, only the fanciest go there...

She might have skimped on the forethought a bit there. A capital city of anywhere should be crowded and busy, that’s just how things work. Sadly, she had only figured that out after she was within the confines of Equestria’s biggest market.

The instant the train was berthed at the station she was off, leaping out of the apple carriage and darting across the steam-smothered platform, partially hidden by the drifting fog produced by the train. She had seen the half-visible images of workers and other conductors as they went about their regular business, a few times almost bumping into them and being discovered. Amazingly she hadn’t been seen at all, and the moment the platform’s exit came into view, a heavenly object, she jumped through. She really should have looked before she leaped through.

As it quickly turned out, Canterlot’s station was adjacent to the marketplace, the Canterlot Bazaar, whatever you wanted to call it. It didn’t matter the language or the pony, one thing could be agreed the moment you say it.

It. Was. Huge.

And that was no no understatement. The whole place could have been a quarter of the size of Ponyville from first glance, and there wasn’t a single free space in it. Absolutely every nook, every cranny was taken up by a pony that was searching for wares, arguing, bartering, chatting, loitering, laughing, jumping, and just... doing stuff.

And, of course, she hadn’t even looked, nor hesitated, before jumping right into that...

WHAM!

Yet another hoof shot out of nowhere and connected with her back, pushing her forward, right out of the crowd and into one of the many small shops that littered the streets. She turned around to catch a glimpse of whoever it was this time, but the pony was already gone, eaten up by the ever-changing crowd. She almost walked back into the throng, and her hoof hovered just away from the edge of the crowd, but the sea of bodies angrily pulsed so close to her, and she retracted the appendage hastily. She sat down on the hard floor, letting her body sag in defeat as she contemplated jumping back into the mosh pit again.

“...I said, are you gonna buy anything?!”

A voice made her turn around to face inside of the small tent-like shop she was standing at the entrance of. The shopkeeper was impatiently tapping his hoof on the surface of his counter in the recesses of the shop, beating out a staccato rhythm. He had a dark brown coat, accompanied by a darker vest and black hat. He looked more than a bit dapper, out of place in the rapidly moving market. Her eyes darted around, wondering what he was talking about. “Buy anything?”

His snorted in derision. “Yeah, buy something. Or are you just gonna stand there all day and waste my time. C’mon c’mon, we ain’t got all year to make up our minds here missy. Just get something and bugger off, I’ve got ponies waiting y’know?”

She looked behind her but couldn’t see anypony bar the constant crowd. In fact, the only ponies in the tiny bubble of peace were her and the shopkeeper, who was still eyeing her impatiently. She turned back to him and looked into his store. In the few moments that she’d been standing there she hadn’t even bothered to actually look, only thinking about how the hay she would get out of the market.

...And she had absolutely no idea what he was selling still, even as she looked around. Small bottles with labels, all covered in fancy script, were sitting on velvet cushions around the stall. Each of the bottles looked like it was being treasured on a shrine for no particular reason. What was more, each bottle looked to contain only a tiny amount of liquid.

She turned back to the keeper to see him watching her like a hawk, waiting to see her response.

She didn’t want to disappoint. “The bottles look... nice?”

The shopkeeper looked like he was about to explode. “Nice?! The bottles?! Heck lady, the bottles do look nice, but what do you think of the fragrances?! Come on! Do you have any idea who you’re talkin’ to here?!”

She shook her head slowly, but he didn’t even seem to be paying attention to her anymore. “You, my dear, are in the presence of the number one perfume dealer in Canterlot. No, scratch that, Equestria! I am the one and only Mr. Aroma! You don’t get anything better than the stuff I sell!” She could almost see the bits of foam that shot out of his mouth during the frenzy of self-compliments.

“And the only thing that you can tell me, is that the bottles look nice?!” He gave her a look that could shatter bones. Reaching under the counter, he brought an absolutely tiny bottle out that looked to be comprised of crystal, a tiny stopped jammed in the top. He beckoned her to lean in. “Listen girl,” he said to her quietly, “do you see this? This little gem here, is a one-in-a-million beut’. It is literally priceless. You can’t even get it anywhere else. Do you understand me?”

She nodded slowly and he drew back from her ear. “Good, good. Now, I’ll ask one more time. Are you going. To buy anything?” With that he settled back into his raised seat with a smile on his face.

“...I don’t have any money...”

Smile gone. Simple as that. The shopkeeper, Mr. Aroma, pointed a hoof at the entrance to the tent. “Out,” he said, “don’t take strays here. No money, no sale. Get back on the streets and get some cash to pay me before you walk into my store of the one and only-”

“Pungent Aroma, I do hope that you weren’t planning on sending out this nice young mare here, she happens to be a friend of mine that is waiting for me. I do hope that you wouldn’t be against letting her stay, hmmmm?”

Mr Aroma’s - or rather Pungent’s - jaw dropped to the tabletop when he heard the voice. She turned around to see the newcomer and her jaw almost dropped too.

The stallion that had walked into the store could have been a prince, or at least some sort of royalty. His outfit made Pungent’s look like something from a second hoof store. For clowns. Did they have second hoof store for clowns?

Hmmmm, I’ll have to look into that...

The newcomer was dressed in an immaculate tuxedo, a monocle perched precariously on one eye. His cutie mark showed three golden crowns, gems inlaid. He casually waved aside a stray hair as he strolled across the floor towards the stuttering Pungent, who was still trying to come to terms with the new arrival.

“F-F-Fancy... Fancy...” he mumbled, “you’re... you’re here! Ah, yes, as I was just telling this lovely young mare,” he shot her a cautious glance, “I only serve the best fragrances, and my customer service is unmatched anywhere.”

Pungent practically pranced past the counter and attached himself to the new stallion’s side like a leech. “Might I interest you in some of my new stock? Anything take your fancy?” He chuckled for a moment and tried to direct the stallion away from her and over to some of the far walls, but for every move that Pungent made the stallion would casually and expertly maneuver both of them back towards the counter. She managed to catch a look at Pungent’s cutie mark; a dirty diamond inside a sharp maw of teeth.

The stallion cut Pungent off mid sentence as they made another pass of her. “Actually Pungent, I’m here for that order I placed a while ago, you wouldn’t happen to have it in stock now, would you?”

The shopkeeper sighed softly in defeat and walked behind the counter, retrieving the very same incredibly small crystal bottle that he had produced for her earlier. He passed it over the counter and the stallion inspected it with an approving eye. “Ahh, brilliant my fine chap, I knew that you would live up to expectations, as always.” He winked casually, and Pungent grinned weakly. “I’m sure that this will be everything that Fleur wanted.”

“Anything else?” Pungent asked hopefully. “I just got a new shipm-”

Fancy cut him off gently. “I’m sorry. As I said before my friend, that will be all for today.” He turned to leave, but paused momentarily. “And this young mare will be accompanying me, I hope,” he called out, “I would be delighted if you chose to follow me, I am ever so fond of company on days like this.”

Her head whipped around as the stallion called out to her, and without waiting she dashed after him. It didn’t matter if he was secretly a danger to her, or if he was planning to hand her over, as long as he could get her out of the labyrinthine markets she would follow. Just as she left the shop she cast a look back at Pungent, who was eyeing her with barely contained hatred. She gulped and hurried into the crowd.

For a second she thought that she’d lost him in the confusion, but a loud whistle made her turn to face the stallion, who was standing in a gloriously clear spot in the crowd. He beckoned her over and she fell into step beside him as he walked along. It seemed that wherever he wanted to go a small pocket would open up in the crowd to let him pass, and she stayed close enough that she too would be able to sneak through in the brief respite.

As they walked along he started talking.

“So, Pinkie was it? Whatever brings you to the fine city of Canterlot my dear, the last time I saw you was the wedding, and that was a good couple of weeks ago. You visiting somepony? Or is this just a casual vacation, soak in the sights and sounds, that sort of thing, you know?”

“Oh, but first, I must apologize for the behavior of Mister Pungent in there, I knew he was bad but I had no idea that he would stoop to the levels of mistreating such a lovely young mare as yourself. Although, what would bring you to the Canterlot markets, and his shop in particular?”

He peered down at her from behind his monocle, and the casually bouncing moustache of his.

Before she had a chance to answer, a gasp cut her off. A pony wearing one of the most ridiculous outfits that she had ever seen had stumbled out of the crowd and almost right into her. The mare’s ensemble made her look almost exactly as if she’d been swallowed up by a pie, bits of frill and lace making up the perfect crust.

It took her a moment to realise that she wasn’t actually wearing a pie, and another to wipe away the drool that had filled her mouth the moment her stomach had taken over. The only part of her costume that didn’t look like it had come from a bakery was the giant orange feather that stuck out from her hat.

“Fancy Pants,” the mare yelled, “what a surprise to meet you here. Oh, I do hope you remember me, Crème de la Crème? Oh, it is so good to see you again.” The mare completely ignored her, standing next to the stallion, or rather Fancy Pants.

Fancy smiled at the mare. “I do believe that I can recall your face. Hmm, let me think...” His face scrunched up for a moment. “The 50th Anniversary of the Canterlot Botanic?”

The mare gasped and almost fainted from the look on her face. Fancy Pants continued unaware. “Yes, that was a very fun day for all involved, I do hope that you had as much fun as I.” He started walking again. “I’m sorry that I can’t stay to chat now Miss Crème, I do have errands to run and guests to entertain, maybe later.”

Just before the mare vanished from sight she tried to chase after Fancy, but the crowd closed up around her, leaving only an enormous feather sticking out from above the crowd. The pink pony turned back and scurried after the well dressed stallion, who was watching her with curiosity.

“So,” he started, “I guess that this is your first time in the markets eh? They seem to have this effect on the newly... initiated.” He smiled at a memory. “I can remember the first time I came here...”

He trailed off and chuckled quietly. “I can guarantee you however that you’ll get used to it soon my dear, it is all a matter of practice.” He caught sight of a mare gawking at him for a moment through a gap in the sea of ponies as it parted around him.

That grin appeared on his face again. “But it doesn’t hurt to be me sometimes, I do tend to have a bit of an effect on ponies.”

She made to talk again but she was interrupted. Again. But it wasn’t a pony this time. Some sort of ravenous animal had decided to make its home in her belly, and made its presence known just then. She blushed and giggled as Fancy looked at her. He waved a hoof. “No need to say anything my dear, I can tell what you are focused on at the moment. Come, let us find somewhere nice and quiet to chat.”

Fancy turned and strode off in a slightly different direction, once again the ponies parting around him. He abruptly veered to the right and snuck through a street hidden in a section of wall, a small thing that wouldn’t have been obvious to somepony that hadn’t trod the streets a million times before. She followed him and a few moments later the two of them had emerged in a completely different section of the city. The noises of the market were still audible, but they were separated from the throng by at least a few buildings.

Fancy kept walking and soon stopped next to a small cafe. It was a classic thing, tables with umbrellas sitting out the front, only a few customers. Fancy Pants sat down at one of the tables and she sat down with him.

“I love this place,” he said, “one of the places that I came to as a colt, marvelous food and great service. Ah, here comes a waiter now...”

The next few minutes were a blur of weird sounding names for food and incredibly snooty waiters prancing around, even at something like lunchtime in a small outside restaurant. However, Fancy managed to blast through the strange syllables and emerge from the other side victorious. Sitting in front of her was a salad. That was all.

And a muffin. Glorious.

And then there were only crumbs.

What? She was hungry! Couldn’t a pony eat a good muffin when they needed it?

Fancy’s mouth hung open slightly as she scarfed down the entire muffin in one quick gulp, leaving only the sad remnants of its family to try and live on. “I... take it that you were very hungry then?”

She tried to say something around the lump of muffin in her mouth and only managed a muffled noise. Swallow and repeat. “Ahh, yeah, just a little...”

He smiled again. How was he able to smile so much? This stallion was a GOD! “No problem at all, as I’ve said before, food is sustenance, you were simply very hungry. It’s not a crime you know.” He laughed richly, a deep tenor thing. “Now, what brings you to Canterlot? I never did get an answer to that.”

She swallowed nervously. “Ummm, nothing at all really. I just... felt like getting away from it all. Felt like I was being... chased. Hehe.”

He raised an eyebrow. “That’s definitely interesting, I wasn’t aware that a town like Ponyville was so... intense.” Fancy put a hoof to his chin. “Then again, I wouldn’t have thought that a brilliant designer like that Rarity,” he rolled the sound across his tongue like a fine wine, “could come from there either. It really is full of surprises, no?”

There was a brief pause as he took a bite from his own muffin. “So,” he said eventually, “is there anything that you really want to do here? Anything fun, exciting? Actually, there is the most amazing display at the Houvre at the moment that you simply must see.” He chuckled. “I do have a bit of a soft spot for certain cultural things, I must admit.”

She started tapping her hoof against the table nervously. “Actually, I was hoping that I might be able to have an... audience with the Princesses?”

There are only a few ways to get a pony to stop mid bite and freeze. For someone like Fancy Pants it is even more rare.

Asking to see the Princesses is definitely one way to make him do that.

“The Princesses you say?” He looked thoughtful as he placed his muffin back on the plate. “Why ever would you need to have an audience with them? Is something wrong? Dare I say it, is Ponyville in danger?” He paused. “Again?” he amended.

“What? No!” she shouted. “I mean, no,” she corrected when she saw Fancy flinch slightly. “I just need to see them. It’s rather... personal, and important to me,” she pleaded.

Fancy’s expression melted when she said those words. “Say no more my dear, you have already proven yourself to be worthy last time we met - the wedding? - and I dare say that you knowing the Princesses already wouldn’t hurt.”

He sighed softly. “It won’t be difficult, but at the same time it won’t be easy. You know that’s you don’t just ask to have an audience with the sisters, you have to wait...”

“That doesn’t matter, I just need to see them.”

Fancy nodded. “Okay, that’s good. I do know some ponies, so I should be able to get them to see you soon. ust let me finish up here, I’ll try to talk to somepony that can get the word in. Just wait until I’ve finished up here,” he said, motioning to his muffin.

She settled down to wait...

“Wow.”

“Yes, it does seem to have that effect on ponies.”

“No, I mean...

“It’s huge.”

“If I had a bit for every time I’ve heard that.”

“How does it stay up?! I mean, it looks like it should just fall over, but... it just stays there!”

“Are you going to stand there gawking all day or must I do something drastic, hmm?” Fancy Pants smirked at her expression as she marvelled at his...

...really big mansion. The huge structure was situated in what must have been the best spot in the whole of Canterlot, ranked only beneath the Palace itself. Pants Mansion was incredibly prestigious, easily realised when she saw the huge wrought gold gates that barred the entrance off.

And they were always open. As Fancy said:

“What reason would I have to close them? Nopony wants anything from me that I wouldn’t donate by myself, and the items that I don’t donate have a personal value to me. They are only of aesthetic nature, I didn’t even want them there in the first place, but you know Fleur...”

Fancy Pants chuckled as he walked and talked. It had only taken half an hour or so to go from the cafe to his mansion, situated in a quiet section of the city. The lawn, a perfect green thing, stretched around the building and made it look like an oasis in a green sea. But the building...

It was enormous. Big would have been an understatement, and massively-ginormous-hugerific would have been just a little too big, so enormous fitted pretty well. The generous stallion placed a hoof against the large oaken double-door and pushed forward. The door swung open on well-oiled hinges, revealing an impeccable marble foyer, a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling lighting the area. A curved staircase hugged the wall, leading away to another level of the mansion.

Her jaw dropped to the floor. Well, it didn’t actually, it just felt like it to her.

Can a jaw drop to the floor? Science is needed...

Fancy gestured around him. “Welcome to the Mansion my dear. This was passed down to me from my father, and him from his father, and so on so forth. You know, inheritance and all that.” He leaned closer and whispered to her, “I do think it’s a bit over the top, but some ponies just won’t listen. Besides, at least when I’m around I can keep a close eye on it, keep it in good condition. It is one of the oldest buildings in Canterlot, it’s the least I can do to keep it in good condition.”

He looked away for a moment and tapped a hoof against the marble floor. “Polished? Are you there?”

She looked at him curiously, wondering who he was talking to. Her question was answered a moment later as a side door opened, revealing an old, but impeccably dressed stallion. His coat was incredibly dark, borderlining complete black, and his mane was only a few shades lighter. His cutie mark was a rag dipped in a bottle of something silvery. The stallion walked towards them and acknowledged the two with a small bow.

“Pinkie Pie, may I introduce you to the retainer, Polished Mantle.”

Polished nodded his head and winked. “Pleasure to meet you miss, not often that Fancy brings along the odd mare.”

She tilted her head in confusion. Why had he winked? Fancy just rolled his eyes and sighed. “Polished, not everypony has a dirty mind like you.” He snorted, “Oh, the irony in that statement.”

He walked over to Polished and draped an arm around the stallion. “Anyway, Pinkie, this is kind pony is the current retainer. He has been here for quite a while now, I expect that you will get along very well.” He turned to Polished. “Now, would you be kind enough to escort Pinkie here to one of the guest rooms? I expect that she will be staying for dinner, would that be alright miss Pie?”

She started when she realised that he was talking to her. “Uhh, yes? I mean, I guess that would be alright, if I need to. I just want to meet with the Princesses as soon as possible...”

Fancy nodded. “Right you are my dear, but I will need to talk to some ponies to arrange that, and I expect that you will need somewhere to stay in the interim. Feel free to make yourself at home. As my father used to say, my home is your home.”

Polished started walking up the curving staircase, and beckoned for her to follow. Fancy Pants watched them leave and turned to walk out another door. He paused for a moment. “Polished?” he said, “make sure that you lay out one more for dinner, will you?” With that said he walked through the door and vanished.

Polished shook his head and kept walking, humming to himself softly. They walked in silence, but it was a comfortable silence, and she found herself bouncing along to the beat of Polished’s tune. The whole lengthy corridor was decorated with all manner of pieces of art and little knick knacks, and she couldn’t stop herself from gazing at each one as she passed. That might have been the reason why she bounced right into the door.

Scratch that, it was the reason. Stupid humming, stupid artwork...

She picked herself off the floor, still rubbing the sore spot on her head. Polished was watching her chuckling softly to himself. “Well,” he said, “here we are. This is one of the guest rooms here, so feel free to get comfy, I don’t think that Fancy would have anything against that.” Saying that, he unlatched the door and pushed it open, revealing a lavishly decorated bedroom. A four-poster master bed sat in one corner, while a fireplace, an actual FIREPLACE, sat in another, surrounded by all manner of furniture. A doorway lead off to an en suite, and a balcony overlooked the main portion of Canterlot, including the palace itself.

She immediately made her way over to that, waving her thanks to Polished, who acknowledged it with a small nod before closing the door and walking away down the corridor. As she stood on the balcony a cool breeze picked up, chilling her slightly as she stood there. But it didn’t matter, and she stood there anyway.

She gazed at the palace, wishing that she could just be there, talking to the Princesses to get the whole ordeal finished. But no, she had to wait, and wait. The sun was on the decline towards the horizon, and it was going behind the mountain that Canterlot was on, so light was fading fast. It may have been the breeze, or the scenery, or just the comfortable balcony, but she couldn’t resist sneaking back inside, grabbing a blanket and settling down back to watch the surroundings.

A yawn burst from her throat. Come to think of it, her eyes were getting slightly heavier too...

Couldn’t hurt, she thought. Maybe Fancy Pants will wake me up for din-

Darkness.

Day One: Sounds

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Hello again. Sorry for the long update time. If you haven't checked my blog yet, it has the... details...
Anyway, here we are. Keep in mind that this HASN'T BEEN EDITED YET! So it still might change.
Also, I bet you guys thought that I was going to do a New Year's/Christmas themed chapter. Well nope.avi. Mebeh later.

The glittering gems on the chandelier were giving her a headache.

Not to say that that was strange. For all she knew the chandelier was designed to give ponies headaches. She didn’t quite see the point, sure, but it could happen. Regardless, she had a headache. And for some reason it was being caused by the light fixture, which was a bit unusual.

The chandelier itself was a marvelous piece of engineering, but it still couldn’t compare to the room that it was situated in. A large room at that, the main dining hall of Fancy’s mansion - one of a few - that was littered with paintings and glass displays. She drew her eyes away from the chandelier and focused instead on the food in front of her. Her headache got worse.

Maybe it was the number of spoons she could see, and cutlery in general. With that in mind she looked away from that and drew her gaze to the gentlecolt at the far end if the marathon-length table. He was sitting right at the end, and apparently wasn’t getting a headache from the spoons. How he managed to tell each one apart she would never know, but the key thing here was that he could. Breakfast wasn’t meant to be that complicated, not that she would know anyway.

She was bored. She needed something to do. One thing in particular that he had been gnawing on her mind, that he had said a few minutes before as they sat down.

“Three days?” she called out to the stallion.

“Mmmhmm.” he said, without taking his eyes away from the food in front of him.

“No way to get in earlier?”

Fancy Pants sighed and looked up at her. “Pinkie Pie my dear, I don’t think that you understand just how difficult it can be to get an audience with the Princess, and she is actually very busy at the moment, fixing finances for repairs in a rural town...” He trailed off and eyed her momentarily, gauging her reaction. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

She shook her head rapidly, eyes darting, hair darting, bits of cereal in her mouth darting. “Nhhmmhm, dhhnnn nhhh ahhhnnghhhthnnng.”

“Uhhhh...”

She hastily swallowed. “Wouldn’t know anything. Nope.”

Fancy eyed her for a moment before shaking his head. “Well,” he said, “I won’t pry, it is not the sort of thing that a gentleman does, under any circumstance, and a lady always deserves her privacy.” He struck a pose in his chair, dramatically stamping a hoof on the gleaming table in between them, bowls clattering noisily. Polished Mantle sent a sharp glance his way and Fancy Pants wilted slightly. He took a moment to gather himself before continuing. “Now Pinkie,” he paused for thought, “you mustn't get down about these things. I’m sure that these three days will pass in absolutely no time at all, and you’ll actually be wanting them back. I’ve heard that the personal audiences can be quite... intimidating for someone who isn’t familiar with them.” He chuckled quietly.

“But what am I going to do?” she said. “Three days could be too long!”

Fancy Pants took off his monocle and cleaned it, the piece of eyewear enveloped in a soft golden glow. “Errmmm, too long for what? Am I missing something important here that I should know?”

She hastily backtracked. “No, nothing. I just... really want to see her soon. Guess I’m just that impatient, hehe...” She knew that it was a flimsy excuse, it was only going to be a matter of time before Fancy found out. He would quickly grab her and take her away to them, and then she’d disa-

“Quite alright my friend, these things happen. Maybe you should practice this patience that you apparently lack, hmmm?”

Fancy Pants gently pushed his chair back from the table and stood up, the chair making a loud screeching noise. She winced. Fancy didn’t even seem to realise. “Now, finish up quickly. You asked me what there is to do in Canterlot...” His right hoof shot into the air. “And I’ve suddenly had a brilliant idea!”

She could faintly hear Polished behind her grumbling, “oh dear, here we go again...”

“I will show you around, let you experience the sights, the smells!” he said.

She looked around nervously. “Actually, I don’t think th-”

“Nonsense my dear, you will have a ball. The city of Canterlot is the greatest in the whole of Equestria, beaten by no other. Even the bustling metropolis of Manehattan cannot compare!”

“No, really, I think th-”

“No jump to it my pink compatriot, we have so much time and so little to see!” he shouted. A moment later he paused. “Wait,” he said, “scratch that, reverse it.” He quickly scooped up a bowl from the table in front of him and carried it off. “I’ll take care of breakfast now, why don’t you help her... freshen up Polished?”

Polished Mantle shook his head.”Freshen up Fancy?”

The tuxedo adorned moustache enthusiast didn’t even stop. “Oh I don’t know Polished, just help her is what I’m trying to say. We are in Canterlot after all. When in Roam and all that...” With that he was out of sight, walking through another of the multitude of doorways in the large dining room. Polished shook his head and chuckled softly.

“Well Madam,” he said, “it appears that you are going to be spending some time on the town.” The butler started walking away from the table. “Why don’t you head off to your room, get ready for the day. I’ll just clean up here. Celestia knows that Fancy Pants will never manage it by himself, regardless of what he thinks.”

Just before she left the dining hall her host’s voice drifted through the corridors. “Hop to it Pinkie Pie, Canterlot is in its finest in the early hours of the morning, and you’d never want to miss the market opening. We’ll leave in about ten minutes, sound good?”

Fancy Pants was watching her reaction as she marvelled at the sights in front of her. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It really is though...”

“Indeed. I find it relaxing to visit the areas of this amazing city on a regular basis, check up on the changes and all that, it helps to keep me up to date. You’d be surprised at how much this city can change, and how quickly it can do it. I once went on a business trip, came back to find that a whole section of the city had been swapped with another...” He put a hoof to his chin. “I never did think that some of those ponies in the Academy had their heads screwed on, and I still don’t. Some of their experiments are slightly... strange. Sure as anything put the ponies that lived in the places that got switched in a loop mind you.”

A smile lit up his face. “But it’s all in good fun in the end, as long as nopony gets hurt. And I have no problems with them doing what they do best. Wouldn’t have the cutie marks if they weren’t, right? Haha!”

Finishing his short speech, Fancy put a gentle hoof on her shoulder to guide her along. The buildings were rising on either side of them, usually two stories, not as high nor as clustered as the market. Here you could at least see where you were going. That was probably due to the early morning, but that didn’t matter too much, Fancy had assured her that this area of the city was never bustling as such, more filled, like the difference between cool and boiling water. The markets were crowded and constantly moving, these areas were more... drifting along, fitting smoothly.

Their hooves made faint clop sounds on the cobblestone beneath, the early morning sun illuminating the streets into a sheen of colours. It had rained the night before, and the puddles on the ground that remained reflected spectrums onto the walls, covering the buildings in ever so faint paintings. Not that it made much of a difference, the walls were already colourful as they were, and the reflections only pronounced that more so.

Faint sounds drifted through the streets, mingling quietly with each other in the early morning. The buildings blocked most of the sound, but she could still hear some.

Fancy stopped for a moment. “Hold up my dear,” he said, “be still. Just let it flow over you for an instant...” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling visibly. She followed his example and just let the gentle sounds wash over her, letting them carry her away. She almost felt like drifting off herself, the peace of the situation lulling her into a trance.

“I always like to do this when I come to this places,” Fancy said. “They have a rich culture you know. Ponies from everywhere come here to live, and they bring their lives with them. You can’t take that for granted, ever. Why, I even found a band of Gypsies once. Mind you, they only stayed for a few days, nomads and all that, but they had the whole place in an uproar.”

He grimaced slightly, but it was lighthearted. “Come to think of it, the commotion wasn’t always for the right reasons.” He smoothed down his tux with a hoof. “I never have seen a pony that could steal a monocle from a pony’s face without them noticing. It’s a bit of a gift I guess.” He grimaced, and she thought she could hear him quietly mumble, “And it didn’t have to be my monocle.”

He stopped when he realised that she was eyeing him a bit strangely. He coughed. “Never mind that, just mumbling to myself, nothing of matter.” Fancy Pants threw a hoof out dramatically, as if unveiling has pièce de résistance. “May I introduce you,” he paused for effect, “to the Musicians District!”

Without waiting for her response, he started walking again. “We’re going to have an exciting time here, and I guarantee that in no time at all the three days will be over, and you’ll be sad to see them go. I’ve been here many a time, and I never cease to be amazed by the diversity, and I bet that you will have just as much fun as me.”

She followed him, not that she had much choice in the matter anyway. He was her one ticket to see the Princess, or both of them, and she had to stick by him if she wanted that opportunity.

Wait a sec, can you stick to a pony? Hmmmm, I’ll have to try that... She discreetly tried to swivel her head around to examine the surroundings.

No glue around...

Pity...

They were sitting. Not much more to it than that, just sitting on a bench. The sun had truly risen, illuminating the streets fully, and more ponies were out on the streets. Fancy was right when he said that this place never got too crowded. Even when the day was already started, she could still walk in a clear spot. Apparently, according to Fancy Pants, everypony was much more laid back in the Musician’s District. There was no rush to get anywhere, and if someone wanted to find somewhere noisy and full of shops, “Then they can just go to the Market! There’s no need for that kind of bustle here, of all places!”

She smiled, for what seemed like the first time in a while. It was a true smile, not something fake, and she couldn’t remember the last time that she’d had a natural smile, just a simple happiness of being... happy.

That smile faltered for a moment. Have I ever been like this? I don’t think that anypony has shown me around like this before, or been kind while they did it...

“Are you alright Pinkie?”

She shook the thoughts out of her head, leaving them for later. “Oh, yeah, just enjoying the music is all.” She turned her head back to the streets in front of her. They were seated near some buskers, all of them looking happy just to sit and play, even if the ponies walking by didn’t enjoy. But that wasn’t the case. All of the performers seemed to be appreciated, and the cases were slowly being filled up with bits by the anonymous passers-by, each one of which would have a huge smile on their face as the music filled the streets.

Fancy leaned over. “That’s one of the reasons that I love this place.” He let out a satisfied breath. “It’s not like some other places, all of the ponies here actually appreciate efforts, and they show that. They’re generous. Not like some ponies...” The image of Pungent Aroma filled her head for a moment at Fancy’s words. He continued. “But even if the buskers didn’t get donations,” he said, “they’d still be perfectly happy just to play. This is what they love, and the ponies accept that.

“I guess what I’m trying to say,” he sighed, looking for the right words, “is that I think all ponies should be accepted, no matter who they are, or what they do. This place just... seems like it has that mindset.”

He chuckled for a moment, and she thought that she could see him blush. “Oh, excuse me Miss Pie, I’m sorry if I got caught up there, I tend to be a bit... introspective at times. Just block me out if I rattle on.”

She shook her head slowly. “It doesn’t matter...” She tried to form words in her head, but his words were flying around in it. “I... thought that it was nice...”

Fancy laughed. “It’s always nice to find somepony that likes my thoughts.” He beckoned and sidled off the bench. “Come, I actually want to introduce you to somepony.”

Fancy started walking, leading her away. But she did notice that at every busker he walked by he would always leave a donation, and a smile, and a kind word of encouragement.

And all of the performers had a huge smile on their faces as he passed along.

“And here we are. Just wait a moment, I’ll see if she’s home. She can be a bit shy at times. You wouldn’t be able to tell normally, but...” Fancy caught himself. “Just wait, you’ll see in a moment.”

He walked towards the building that they had stopped at the door, knocking on it gently. It was a plain wooden door, nothing fancy, near the end of one of the many streets. The sounds of the street performers were faded here, and there were few ponies on the streets.

Fancy waited. “The two of you will get along like a building on fire,” he said, “she’s nice to strangers, but she’s still very shy, so don’t... you know... go crazy?” They waited. Fancy broke the silence again. “I’ve known her for a long time you know. Since the both of us were practically foals. You get to know a pony well after knowing them for that long,” he said. The sound of hoofsteps grew louder from behind the door. “Oh, here she comes now.”

The door opened, and a pony appeared. She was nothing that leaped out at the eye. A simple mare, grey coat, darker mane. It was the eyes that drew the attention. They were huge purple orbs, depthless and expressive beyond words. The mare opened her mouth to say something, but the sight of Fancy and his companion shut her mouth straight away.

“Pinkie Pie,” Fancy said, “may I introduce you to my friend, Octavia Philharmonica!”

She smiled at the grey pony. “Nice to see you!”

Octavia didn’t waste any time in pulling the both of them through the doorway and slamming the door behind them. The grey pony rounded on her, barely glancing at Fancy Pants. Her smile faded as Octavia examined her closely before leaping at her.

“Sister! It’s great to see you again!”

Fancy Pants raised an eyebrow.

“Octavia, why didn’t you tell me after all this time?” He didn’t sound accusatory, just curious. The trio was sitting in Octavia’s living room, a minimalistic, yet cozy affair. The pink pony was trying to sink into the couch. She would rather be anywhere else at the moment. She’d come to Canterlot to get away from this, to go the the princesses. Sure, this grey pony didn’t know what had happened, but it would only be a matter of time before she realised.

Fancy pants was keeping the conversation running. “So, if you’re related, then why haven’t I ever seen you together before? And you’re a Philharmonica as well? I’m intrigued.”

Octavia leaned forward in her seat. “Well,” she started, softly, as if it was a conspiracy. “The Pie’s have a bit of a name for themselves as you can probably imagine. So when I was small, when I first came here, I needed something else, something... higher class. For the Canterlot ponies, you know?

“And I rarely ever get to see my relatives. Most of them... well, I’m not really interested in. The rest? They usually live to far away to visit, sometimes at all. Pinkie here is somepony that i’ve seen a few times, but she never hangs around someplace for long, always on the move, you know?” Octavia nudged her arm, and she mumbled the affirmative.

Octavia continued. The conversation was rambling around, and she just tried to stay out of it as much as possible. Every question that was directed at her personal life she would shirk away from, or move it along to Fancy. The less that Octavia suspected something was wrong, the better.

That tactic seemed to be working well. The conversation moved along at a normal pace, and there were little accusatory glances. She thought that she might still get out of the situation yet.

Octavia turned to Fancy. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’ll just make something for us to eat.” The host’s eyes shifted to her, entrenched in her chair. “Would you like to come too? I’ve got something that I’ve been meaning to give to you for a while.”

She nervously accepted. How would she decline without arousing more suspicion? And so she followed the grey mare out of the room. Octavia moved behind her as she walked through the doorway, closing the door. Her blood turned to ice the moment she heard the soft and decisive click of the lock being turned.

Octavia turned to her. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m going to finish this.” She glared at her. “What have you done to my sister changeling?” she growled.

The pink pony blanched. “You sister? What are you talking about? I don’t know what you mean?”

“Fine,” Octavia said, “if you won’t show yourself, I’ll just make you...” She reached behind her and drew out a drawer, pulling a small pointed object out. The object lit up a deep green, which shot out and surrounded her. The green glow shifted around for a few moments before simply returning to the device and disappearing. octavia looked surprised, but she quickly closed her mouth. Her eyes were still wide.

“I don’t get it? This is supposed to reveal you things!” She placed the device on a bench. “So, you’re not a changeling then,” she grunted, “but I’ll get you yet.” She put a hoof to her chin, before stamping it and smiling. “If you’re my sister,” she said evilly, “then when’s my birthday.”

She knew at that moment that she was sunk. “Umm,” she stammered, “Haypril?”

“Aha!” she shouted. “I knew it! You’re not her, you’re an imposter! No Pinkie I know would act like you just did before! And no Pinkie I know forgets a birthday. Ever.” She turned to the door. “You’re in trouble now. Imposters don’t get any love, not after the changeling invasion.”

Octavia made to open the door, but stopped when she felt a heavy weight attach around her rear hoof. She looked back at the pink pony that had leaped forward, and was now lying on the ground, grabbing her hoof. “No,” she said, “please, don’t. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to steal anyone. I mean, I didn’t steal anyone!” She felt a small moistness around her eyes. “Please don’t tell anypony! I can’t go, I just can’t!” Images of the other-hers vanishing flashed through her mind all at one. “I just can’t!”

Octavia’s expression faltered for a moment, before her mouth made a grim line. “Then what did you do to my sister?” she said quietly. “Tell me what you are.” The was no questioning, no room for maneuvering, no chance to escape.

She sighed.

And then she told her everything.

“So did you have fun today then?”

She started at the sound of his voice. The two of them had been walking in silence for a while now, approaching the mansion where she would be staying for the next two nights. Fancy had accepted the silence after she grunted answers back, but he sounded curious now.

“Yes,” she said, “I thought it was...” she paused, “nice.”

Fancy nodded. “Well that’s fantastic. I always love those places. You’re going to have lots of fun tomorrow then, I’ll be taking you to one of the other Districts, you’ll love them. I won’t tell you right now which ones, those are going to be a surprise...”

She watched him, eyeing him strangely. “Who are you looking at?” she said.

Fancy tore his eyes away from midair. “Nopony,” he said hurriedly, “nopony at all, myself I guess.” He cleared his head with a shake.

She started to drift off, her legs taking her where Fancy led her. She was distantly aware of walking into the mansion, seeing Polished Mantle again. Dinner passed quickly, and Fancy seemed to accept the silence. He only broke the silence to say, “I see that you’ve had a big day my dear, I’ll leave you to yourself. I expect that you’re tired now?”

She quickly agreed and excused herself, trying to find seclusion as quickly as she could. Any empty place would fit her perfectly. Polished gave her a curt nod as she passed him in the corridor, only briefly pausing to say, “Brighten up Madam, you’ll be chatting with the Princess in no time at all. You’ll see.” And then he was gone again, off into the massive mansion.

It was all too soon that she found herself back in her temporary room, sitting once again on the balcony in the moonlight. The sun had just recently set, and all that could be seen was the distant glow of it over the horizon as it passed beneath the lip of the world. Her mind was ablaze, and she couldn’t help but think of what Octavia had said to her.

The grey pony didn’t appear happy. “Hmm,” she grunted. “That seems rather far fetched.”

“I swear it’s true! I swear!” she said desperately.

Octavia sighed. “Far be it from me to judge somepony, but I don’t like to take things at face value...”

She held her breath as the grey pony thought things over. She knew what was coming next. First, Octavia would run, then tell everypony. Guards would appear, weapons in hoof. Celestia herself would pass judgement from their perspective.

And then those six would appear. The other-her would be there, glaring at her with those cruel eyes of hers. Of both of theirs.

And then she would be gone.

“I’ll tell you what,” Octavia said, bringing her out of her foresight. “I will refrain from telling everypony.”

“Oh thank you, than-”

“On one condition.”

She froze, but didn’t hesitate. “Anything, what is it?”

“You say that you will be seeing the Princess in two more days, correct?”

“Yes, yes. Two days until I see her. Fancy told me.”

Octavia’s eyes moved down. “Okay. Here’s the deal. I won’t tell anypony, but I’ll only keep the information under wraps for those two days. No more. No less. If you haven’t seen the Princess in that time you’re being exposed.”

“Oh thank you, I promise that you won’t re-”

“Shh. One more thing.”

She stalled, “...Yes?”

“If anything. And I mean anything. Happens to my Fancy Pants,” her eyes took on a sharp glint, “so help me, you will find out just how much it hurts to have a cello broken over your head.” She smiled. “And then I’ll turn you over to the guards.” She leaned over. “Between you and me, they still haven’t gotten over the Changeling Invasion, so there’s no love lost for imposters. They may not treat you as nicely as Fancy Pants...

“Just keep that in mind for the future...”

She shuddered. She knew that she’d gotten off lightly, oh so lightly. And other pony might have just done away with her, then and there, and according to Octavia, they would have. Not everypony was as accepting as her.

She shook her head, sighed, and got up. She knew that she had two more days to get through. She walked over to the bed and lay down.

If the next days were as problematic as the one she’d just had...

Sleep didn’t come easily that night, and when it did it came on a sea of restless visions.

Day Two: Showtime

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No, I'm not using the author's note box, dun like it.
As always a huge thanks to my usual editor Piedol, go check his stuff out, it's very good. Now however I have to mention another very talented editor who is helping me out, Alpha151.
Both of these guys are full of awesome.
That's enough talk. TO THE SHOW!

P.S. I hate to sound needy, but would I be able to get some art for this? I mean, actual art? The cover image at the moment is just one that I found...

Hoofsteps. Pounding. Getting closer every second, every heartbeat. She couldn't escape. Couldn't run fast enough.

A wall? nowhere to go, nowhere to turn. She whipped around to stare into the face of-

“AHHHHH!”

The sound of her yelling threw her out of sleep almost immediately. Fuzzy images flew through her mind, indistinct in the haze of sleep that hung around her head. The sheets were damp around her and sweat clung to her slender frame. All around her sheets were flung about carelessly, supposedly while she was sleeping. She herself was scrunched up in a ball in the middle of the huge bed, nestled in the middle of the carcass of ‘pristine’ blankets.

Her joints popped loudly as she stretched out, uncurling from her position, bringing a grimace to her face. The early-morning sun blazed through the windows, completely ignoring the curtains by finding the tiny gaps and penetrating them with ease. She tried to roll over and get back to sleep, but these tiny rays held more heat than they let on, and in a few minutes she was forced to flee. That or coat the bed in more sweat.

She had the feeling that Fancy Pants wouldn’t find that very nice. Or for that matter, Polished Mantle.

With that in mind she leaped out of the bed, shaking her head violently to clear the sleepiness that was left over. A few images from her dreams shot through her head again, but they escaped before she could make sense of them. She knew that they had some importance, or some meaning, anything. They seemed a little familiar too.

Oh well. Gone now.

She tried to push all of the bad thoughts away. They didn’t matter. Soon she would be going into Canterlot for the second time, bringing her closer to her goal of meeting the fabled Princess of Equestria and clearing her name of... whatever it was that they wanted her for, apart from being a...

Clone. That was it.

It took her a few seconds to realise that she had just been staring at the floor, gazing into the bottomless carpet that clung to the ground. It all looked the same, the carpet that is. Why couldn’t life be like that? But she knew it wasn’t that simple, or at least she guessed. Nothing had been simple for the duration of her...

Existence.

Life.

...Creation.

Stop it. Thinking about it’s doing nothing. Gotta get moving, anything!

She half-stumbled into around the room. The door to the ensuite was open, beckoning her with its bathroom-y goodness. The drowsy pony straightened up and walked in, not bothering to close the door behind her.

There was a sink, and she quickly walked over to it, checking her reflection in the mirror hanging above. There seemed to be something strange about it, but she couldn’t be exactly sure what it was. She quickly shook the thought out of her head.

She took a few moments to stand in front of the mirror, before grabbing a comb that was lying on the sink. She lost herself in the repetition of simply brushing her mane, getting the tangles out, making herself look presentable.

It was all too soon that she was reminded of her appearance when she took the comb away, leaving just a completely smooth, straight mane of dark pink hair, the same as she had had for the last few days. No frizz there. At least there was some difference between her and the other.

But something was still different, what exactly? She’d removed all of the tangles, she’d fixed the gnarls, the whorls, what was wrong?

She was looking awfully pale today, why? Was she sick? Indeed, her coat was a different pink to what she was used to, lighter, diluted, missing. She turned around, trying to find something...

She slowed. Something was wrong. It was a nag in the back of her mind, but there was something different with her appearance. She couldn’t quite think of what it was, but is was there. Come to think of it, she wasn’t feeling too well either. Maybe just a bug. That must be it, she was getting sick, or something along those lines.

With one last dubious look towards the mirror she turned tail and walked out of the bathroom and departed her room, seeking the perfect thing to distract her: food. She passed Polished Mantle not even a few steps out of her room. The caretaker was slowly making his way along the corridor, shining all of the small treasures that littered the long walk.

He gave her a small smile as she walked by, waving his hoof quickly before returning it to its work. “Good morning miss, I trust that you had a good rest?”

She smiled back at him. It was infectious. “Oh yeah, it was great.” She shuddered in spite of the warmth of the morning. She was feeling a little off. She hoped that the caretaker wouldn’t notice.

He did. “Are you feeling quite all right today?” he asked, concern evident in his voice. “Too cold? Anything?”

“Just nervous,” she said cautiously, “I’ll be fine soon.”

He chuckled. “Oh, there’s nothing wrong with being nervous my dear. You’re not used to Canterlot, and you’re about to have an audience with the Princess in a few days. That would have any sane pony practically quaking in their hooves.” He chuckled good naturedly. “Maybe that’s why Fancy never has any problem with seeing the Royal Sisters...”

He noticed the look that she was giving him. “Oh don’t mind me miss Pie,” he waved her off with a hoof, “just rambling a bit. Go on downstairs, there should be something for you to eat. I’d better get on with my work, these things won’t stay clean by themselves...”

She walked off, but she could still hear him talking quietly to himself. “I wonder if I could make something that did make them clean themselves...” he said, just before she was out of earshot.

Shaking her head, she continued through the house. It was huge, yes. It was beautiful, yes. Confusing? Not really. There wasn’t really much of a trick to not getting lost. She hadn’t really gone anywhere though, so she couldn’t really be sure. For all she knew there was a giant maze somewhere, and Fancy would kidnap ponies and put them in it, and put cheese, no, CAKE somewhere in it, and then he would make them go through a bunch of test chambers in the maze to get the cake, and there would be a giant robot and some boxes with hear-

...Or maybe not, maybe it is just a really big house...

She walked down the stairs at the end of the long corridor and proceeded through into the ‘breakfast chamber’, or so Fancy called it. He had a habit of naming some of the rooms.

His own bedroom was the ‘lair’, or maybe that was Polished’s name for it...

Suddenly the thoughts of cake and mazes seemed a little more believable.

She found her generous host waiting for her, a veritable banquet already strewn across the table top. Her mouth watered at the sight of it, and Fancy’s grin - which was always there - only grew wider at the sight of her excitement. if he was at all revolted, disgusted, or in any way unnerved at the way she unhinged her mouth to swallow a whole platter of muffins whole, he didn’t show it, which was in a feat in itself.

While she was eating... everything, Fancy called out to her, “Slow down Pinkie dear, you’re going to make yourself sick!” He paused for a moment, “Although I have seen you in action at a party before...”

He shook his head slightly, clearing his mind to think. “Anyway, forget that. I trust that you had a good sleep? Feeling refreshed?” Without waiting for an answer - not like she could have with that much oatmeal in her mouth - he kept talking. “Now, I saw how much fun you had yesterday, so I’ve decided to keep going with the theme of showing you around Canterlot. We’re not going back to the Musician’s District today,” he nodded to acknowledge the faint groan of disappointment coming from the pink vacuum cleaner, “now now, don’t be like that. Today, we’re going to someplace that I think can sometimes be even better. Believe me, you will have a great time.”

Fancy looked like he was about to say something else, but paused. “Say, Pinkie,’ he queried, “are you sure that you’re feeling alright?”

She nodded vigorously around the food that surrounded her. “Yup, feeling... fullerific!” Yep, no influences that might have altered her answer there...

“Huh,” Fancy mumbled, “I thought that you were looking a little pale to-” He abruptly caught himself mid sentence and Polished Mantle, who had only just walked in, gave him an annoyed stare.

“Fancy,” he started, “you really have absolutely no sense of how to talk to a mare, do you?”

“Oh come now,” Fancy replied, “Fleur seems to like the way I speak!”

“Indeed Fancy.” He leaned next to her ear discreetly. “Celestia only knows that that stallion has about as much social tact as a brick.”

“This way, come along now!”

“She said WHAT?!”

“I know right?’

“I couldn’t believe it either!”

“Wait, what’s that on the ground? Is that...”

“She’s dead!”

The ring of ponies froze, mouths open in shock at the corpse in front of them. It was an old pink coloured thing, matted fur with dried blood clinging to it. Its mouth was open in an expression of shock, glassy eyes that rolled around aimlessly as one of the ponies around it poked it tentatively.

And then one of the arms fell off, and all of the ponies around the ‘corpse’ let out a loud moan of annoyance before picking up the corpse, and the arm, and taking them away from their small sheltered gazebo.

Fancy was watching them with a slight grimace. “Shame,” he said, “I would have liked to see where that was going, I quite liked it so far.”

“YEAH!” she shouted from her spot on the bench next to him, “it was pretty cool n’ all.”

Fancy chuckled. “I guess you’re right, it was pretty... cool as you say. Although I am disappointed about that prop that they were using, I do hate to see them stop midway through an act. However, I think that was just a practice for a later performance, so it works out in the end anyway, no harm done to the actors, or us for that matter.” He finished with a slight chuckle before turning to face her. “Come along then, much more to see.”

Fancy hopped off the bench, trotting away from the gazebo where the actors had been. They were in a moderately large park, other gazebos littered around on the grass. Some were in use, other not, but the only ponies that were inside would always be making extravagant gestures, talking loudly, or becoming extremely emotional.

It was the Actor’s District, the most expressive part of Canterlot. Physically at least. Fancy had summed it up for her when that had arrived, walking beneath a banner strung between the buildings on either side, drama masks painted on it.

“Here,” he had said. “is a bit of a refuge you might say. Well, that doesn’t do it justice.” He had paused, bringing a hoof to his chin in thought. “It’s strange really. It’s like a place that is both the home and the set for actors. And yes, that is the case. I’ve seen a pony walk through here with her shopping, only to have it ‘stolen’, and handed back to her a second later as the exciting chase scene finished. The best part? The mare didn’t even mind! She was an actor too! Sure, she wasn’t a part of the scene, but she appreciated the thought that another group was rehearsing and just... took her into their performance.”

She could sure see that now. She had walked out of the part, following Fancy,who seemed to know where he was going at all times. Even amongst the buildings however, away from the park, she could still feel the undercurrent of emotion that surged through the streets. Fancy had been completely right with his description.

The acting was everywhere. it was in the streets, the ponies, the objects. She would see something happening. Maybe a couple arguing fiercely, almost at each other’s throats, only for them to have a dramatic make-up scene and kiss, while an audience awww’d and applauded the talents of the pair.

A chase scene? Covered. Love scenes? Four of them, at least. Maybe a comedy act. She could tell where those were. The areas around a comedian was filled with laughter as every single pony that was listening was clutching their sides in an effort to contain their mirth.

And she just couldn’t contain the grin that slowly slid onto her face at watching all of the ponies smiling and applauding. There was an undercurrent of goodwill, a thought of general excitement, like at any point something could just happen, and then there would be a flurry of impromptu activity and it would repeat again.

But for her, the best point on the day was when she met the mime...

She chuckled to herself, trying to let out the leftover giggles that watching another comedian had left in her. They really were incredibly funny. Fancy was giggling himself, if not a little less then she.

“That was GREAT Fancy, I didn’t know that I could laugh that hard! I mean, seriously, that guy was just putting the fu- AAHHHHH!”

She was cut off as something jumped out at her without warning. It was a pony, and it looked more than a bit strange. It was a pure, deep white, with a mane of the deepest blacks. Strangely, the stallion also had something that looked like red paint on his muzzle and more black eyeshadow around his... well, eyes.

And he was copying her, perfectly. Fancy was watching her with an amused expression as she tried to figure out just what the stallion was doing. He was just standing in front of her. Every movement she did he would copy without pause. It was unnerving how quickly he reacted to whatever she did. She jumped up and down, he did the same thing, she spun around and poked her tongue out, he did the same thing. She leaped up into the air and froze, hovering for some reason...

And the other pony didn’t sadly, he smacked back onto the ground, smiling ruefully. Fancy was laughing truly at this point, thoroughly amused at the sight of her trying to puzzle out the pony that WOULDN’T STOP COPYING HER! The moment she was back on the ground he was at it again, mimicking her every move with complete precision, only sometimes adding a little flourish, a small clumsy movement left in there on purpose. He was making an art out of ‘perfectly’ copying her, and being very funny at the same time.

Not funny for me. STOP COPYING!

Eventually Fancy stepped in to stop her. “Pinkie,” he said, “calm down a little. I’m surprised that you don’t know what he’s doing.” He stood next to the strange stallion. “This kind pony is actually a friend of mine. His name is Copy Cat, and he’s a mime,” he paused to put a hoof on Copy’s shoulder, “and a very good one at that. I think that you would be hard pressed to find one better than this fine fellow right here.” He turned to the stallion. “So what are you up to Copy? I don’t usually see you in this area. Aren’t you normally over at the main walk?”

Copy made a bunch of movements. They seemed strange, but Fancy took the meaning behind them in an instant. “Ahhh, well Copy,” Fancy said, “this is Pinkie Pie, she’s staying with me for a few days. She’s just visiting Canterlot to talk to the Princesses,” Copy’s eyebrows shot up at this, “and now I’m taking her on a bit of a tour. Actually it was very nice bumping into yo...”

She watched as the two stallions talked. Throughout the whole ‘conversation’ Copy didn’t say anything, not even when Fancy had a little trouble with deciphering his meanings, not that he did that often. Fancy was right, Copy was an amazing mime. She would hate to play charades with him, unless she was on his team...

Eventually they had moved on, and she was asking Fancy about what it was that Copy did.

“Well,” Fancy began, “it’s a little difficult to explain. He’s a mime like I said, and he’s very good at what he does.” He held up a hoof before she could say anything. “Be patient, I’ll get to that. Anyhow, as I was saying. As a mime it’s his performance to be extremely... outspoken, only without any actual words. He can have a whole argument without saying a thing. It’s not like he has a choice...” he gave a rueful look back down the streets to where Copy had been.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Fancy sighed. “Copy Cat is mute. He’s never said a word in his life. Maybe that’s why he’s so good at what he does. He lives it at all times. And he found a way to adapt to his... situation. Hence, mime. And like I said, you would be hard pressed to find anypony better at miming than he.”

He stopped thoughtfully. “Like what he did to you my dear. Any normal pony can copy well, sometimes perfectly, but he can put that spin on it, change it just enough that it’s the same, but different at the same time. He makes an art out of it. It’s like his own personal way of saying ‘I’m different, and I can be like you, but I choose to change your actions slightly, so I’m different.’”

He rubbed a hoof against his neck. “Or at least that’s how I like to look at it. He’s a very nice pony regardless, and-

“Are you feeling well?”

His words slid into her mind, and she jolted out of her thoughts with a start. “Hmmm? Oh, no, I’m fine, just... thinking is all.” In truth his words had kindled a small flame of thought. Copy Cat? Was it possible for her to be different? If a mime could completely mimic her, but still be different at the same time, then maybe...

No, just overthinking it, nothing really...

Fancy nodded and turned around,making his way along the street. Most of the ponies had already filed off a while ago, and the sun was beginning to make its way down towards the horizon. “Well then Pinkie, we had better be off home then, hmm?”

She didn’t hesitate to fall into step behind him. “Sure, let’s go...”

She found herself once more in the bathroom in Fancy’s mansion. They had already eaten their dinner, Polished joking around with her and making wise cracks at Fancy’s expense. Not that either of them seemed to mind, there was an undercurrent of respect that flowed between the two stallions, and they got along well.

And then she had finished and walked up to her room alone, and now she was staring at her reflection.

She shuddered. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Nor was it necessarily ugly.

She was fading. No doubt about it. In just the span of a day her coat had faded. It was maybe half as bright as it had been earlier that morning, when the paling had just been a distant thought. But now?

She flinched slightly and turned. Her cutie mark was doing the same, the three balloons that looked so alien were now a sore spot. Anything was better than nothing, and she was hoping that she could at least hold onto them. But even so, the balloons were fading. Less so than her coat, but fading nonetheless.

She turned a full circle and leaned in closer to the mirror, looking deep into her eyes. The once vibrant cerulean irises were darkening, darkening. Not too noticeable, but definitely happening.

She backed away from the mirror and turned back into the room proper, shoving any bad thoughts to the back of her mind. They didn’t matter, the only thing that did was her seeing the Princess in a few days, and no paling coat would stop her from achieving her goal, no matter how long it took.

She grabbed some sheets from the bed before walking to the balcony and laying down, curled up in her small nest of sheets. The moon was waning tonight, the barest sliver of what it used to be at one point, but it was still bright.

She curled up deeper in the pile of blankets to escape the chill breeze that was starting to rise, and felt the welcome blackness of sleep rise to greet her.

And as with every night, her demons arrived with it.

Day Three: Paint the Scene

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As usual, a big thanks to my editors.
Piedol (Go look at his stories, they're great)
Alpha151 (Amazing attention to detail)

There was somepony knocking on her door. That was the first thought that crossed her mind as she awoke. The sun as already rising into the sky, but the blankets had shielded her eyes from it, blocking the rays that threatened to wake her earlier in the morning.

The noise stopped for a moment before resuming. “Hello? Miss Pie? Are you awake?” Polished Mantle’s voice drifted through the door quietly. “I don’t mean to intrude, but Fancy wishes to get out into Canterlot early today. I take it that he has something special planned. You may not want to keep him waiting.”

She let her head fall back into the mesh of blankets. She really did not feel like moving today. Her head was groggy. The terrors from the previous nights were still hanging around her head, preventing her from relaxing even in sleep. But Fancy was her host, there was no telling what he might do if she didn’t humour him by accompanying him into town...

The slightly disgruntled pony moved the blankets aside and staggered to her hooves, almost falling over in the first few seconds as the blood rushed to her head. Without thinking, she walked over to the door and opened it, grabbing the attention of Polished, who was just starting to walk away. He turned to face her and his eyes widened.

“Miss Pie,” he said, “are you feeling well? You know that I can always get Fancy to reschedule any plans he has. You don’t need to get out of bed on his behalf.”

Feeling well? Sure, she’d be able to go into Canterlot just fine...

Might as well. Fancy will probably show me something just as cool as the last few days.

She quickly fixed a smile on her dial - Why is it a dial? - and waved Polished away. “Nah, I feel great, I’ll be down in a few minutes.” A thought flew into her head, and she ushered Polished away with a hoof. “Just... let me get ready?”

Without waiting for an answer, she practically slammed the door and dove onto her bed, muffling her muzzle on the sheets. She let out a small squeal of excitement. The day was almost there. She would be seeing the Princesses tomorrow, and everything would be fixed. No more secrets, no more lies, no more running. She would be safe. Hopefully.

And she only had to get through one more day until she was there.

But another thought occurred to her, and she darted into the bathroom. Something Polished had said... That she looked sick?

She reached the mirror and froze. His meaning became apparent immediately. Her coat was even worse than the night before, paling substantially just in the time it had taken for morning to arrive again. The once bright pink coat now only had the faintest trace of it’s original colouring, the mane with it.

But it was her eyes. He must have noticed the eyes too. She could have sworn that she saw him wince for a moment as he caught sight of her. He must have noticed.

They weren’t natural. They couldn’t be natural. Black eyes weren’t a thing of nature, or at least from what she’d already seen. And they weren’t black as normal eyes are black, they were black as the night was black, a pool of darkness where she had once looked normal, covering her entire eye.

One thing was certain however. She could not go out into Canterlot looking like this. She would just have to tell them that she wasn’t going out. Oh, but she couldn’t do that, she’d already told them that she would come, and if she backed out they would only become more concerned, and they’d want to know what was wrong with her, and they’d take her to somewhere they could check on her. They’d examine her, and they’d question her, interrogate her, and then-

And then they’d know the truth...

No, she couldn’t raise suspicion. She’d just have to go out to town normally, and try to stop the them from thinking something was wrong, somehow.

But how would she prevent them from seeing her coat, and her eyes? They weren’t the kind of thing that you could hide everyday! If only there was some sort of cultural thing that the Canterlot ponies had, anything to hide themselves, to change their outwards appearance, to make themselves look different from how they usually were!

She sighed in exasperation. There couldn’t be anything like that, it just sounded too weird, ponies never hid anything. Even Fancy Pants didn’t do anything li-

She took a moment to slap herself on the head. Stupid, she was being stupid. Of course there was something like that. Many things in fact. Things that would perfectly hide the... problem that she had. She quickly patted herself on the back and hurried out of the bathroom. Scanning the room, she found the thing that she had been looking for.

It looked amazing, just sitting there in the corner of the room, so hidden from her sight, but so ready to jump to her aid in her moment of need. The wardrobe.

She practically jumped into it - ignoring the sudden urge to check for lions - and investigated. It was absolutely full of clothing, all of it ridiculously colourful and bright. Some short, some long, some big, some small.

But all of it was designed to conceal. Well, except for one item that looked like it was meant to do the opposite.

What does somepony need with black lace?

But she shoved all of those items of clothing away from her, she needed one that would be her, not some silly thing.

“Aha, here we go...”

“I’ll admit, you did surprise me a little with your... choice of apparel”

“What’s wrong with it?”

Fancy’s face immediately lost all of it’s (already pale) colour, and his eyes shrunk to pinpricks. “N-nothing is w-wrong with it...” he stammered, sounding a bit frightened.

She just shrugged it off as being a fear of clothes. Her clothes, she quickly amended. Fancy shook off his hesitation. “No my dear, you look amazing, even if your look is rather... unusual. For a pony about the town that is, not that there is anything bad about a pony wearing a cloak out and about.” He finished with a grin that seemed more unsure than anything else for some reason.

...I’ll have to ask about his fear of clothing opinions. I mean, it’s not like I would take offense if he told me how I looked. I haven’t even worn clothes before!

She shook the thoughts out of her head - stifling a snort at the prospect of that actually happening - and instead concentrated on her surroundings, which were as bright and vibrant as the last two days combined. If anything, they were brighter than anything in the whole of Equestria!

She had imagined the Ponyville was pretty nice, and that Canterlot was slightly... less nice, but the whole time she had assumed that they were about as colourful as a place could get.

Well, she was wrong. By a long shot.

Putting is simply, the street looked as if a whole rainbow had suddenly forgotten that it was meant to hover and instead decided that belly flopping the area beneath it would be much more fun. Even the ponies looked like they’d joined in the fun. In all honesty the whole place looked like one huge ginormously bigerific explosion of colour.

Fancy had walked the two of them into the District only a few minutes ago, attracting a few glances for her clothing. However, every single pony on the streets at the time had been in something that was just as strange - if not more so - than her own garb. Even the ones that weren’t wearing clothes were weird looking; stripes and circles and random shapes covering their bodies.

Yep. It was incredibly obvious, even to somepony that had no clue where they were, that the ponies surrounding them were artists. And Fancy had obliged her by pointing out the obvious when they walked into the area.

But is was still very early in the morning, and not many ponies wanted to be out and about for no particular reason, even if they just wanted to do a little painting for fun. Sleep was always more important, no exception.

...Except for when the pony that was giving her a free ticket to freedom at the hands of the most powerful - and elusive, at times - ponies in the world. Yeah, that usually came just a little above her sleeping routine.

Routine, hah, makes it sound like I’ve actually been doing it for sometime more than... 4, 5 days?

The stallion escorting her must have had a sixth sense for down-frumpiness, because he shot her a quick concerned glance and gave her a soft tap on her wither. “Pinkie,” he started, “are you still feeling a bit off? I mean, we can always postpone this outing if you are not up to a day out around the city?”

She contemplated that. He had said it himself, so she would be free of any guilt if she just went back to his mansion now.

If she went back and spent the whole day doing nothing.

Alone with her thoughts.

She winced slightly and tried to straighten her posture. “Nah, I think I’m good for the day, don’t you?”

Fancy eyed her. “Are you sure about that? You’ve been acting a bit st-”

“Yes,” she said sharply. Upon seeing Fancy Pants’ reaction she softened her tone. “Yes,” she repeated, “I’ll be fine, just point me where to go and I’ll follow you.”

The gentlecolt nodded slowly. “Very well then Pinkie, let me show you around,” he paused for effect, “THE ARTIST’S DISTRICT!” More than one pony glanced curiously at the source of the outburst, and he shrunk down a bit under their gaze.

“You might have said that a bit too loudly there Fancy...” she whispered loudly.

“Uhh, yes, indeed. I think I realised that...” he replied, his face colouring mildly. “Let us move on, do not want to make any more of a scene than we already have.”

We?

Eyeing him dubiously, she followed the unpredictable guide, letting him take her along the street.

Murals passed her by on either side, depicting just about anything she could imagine. One might show a giant platter of bananas, the one next to it had a cannon pointing to the moon, a pony already flying out of it with a helmet on. One that really caught her eye was of Luna herself, resplendent in her jewelry, flying above an inky black ocean that blended perfectly with the night sky. The moon was large in the background, the sea cutting through its midsection, making a perfect circle that spanned both ocean and sky.

Fancy was looking at it beside her. “You know,” he said, “it always made me wonder when I saw these.”

“Wonder what?”

He looked surprised that she had answered him. “Hmm? Oh, I was just thinking to myself is all. The thing that intrigued me was Night Mare Moon. The tales always said that ponies never appreciated her night a good thousand years ago. Now?” He trailed off, waving a hoof in the direction of the mural. “This must be a welcome sight to her...” He mumbled something quietly, but it was too soft for her to hear.

Fancy’s head gave a quick turn. “Okay then, let us be off. Much more to see on this fine day. I am sure that we can find something else that is just as inter-”

“My, my, my. If it isn’t my old friend Fancy Pants. They still callin’ you that now? What happened to you ya old blighter?”

If a stallion’s head could turn any faster, she had yet to see it. Fancy Pants turned in much much less than a second, towards the source of the voice.

“Can it be,” he breathed. His face broke into a wide grin. “AHA! It is you!” he didn’t waste any time in breaking into what could only be called a full on sprint towards another pony on the street. She hurried after him worriedly.

When she caught up to him, she saw him in a massive hug with another stallion, both cackling madly. Well, one was cackling. She couldn’t even imagine Fancy Pants ever doing that. The other pony, however, looked like it was all that he ever did, his face creased with years of smiling.

And he was a zebra, or at least looked like one if a zebra could have a different colour set to the usual black and white. Maybe like... Red and green.

Fancy was hugging a red and green zebra.

...Well that’s new...

The ‘zebra’ pulled out of the hug to get a look at Fancy, still grinning. “I can’t believe this, first day back and I see you!” he yelled ecstatically. “Thought I was gonna have to search everywhere!” He shook his head. “Can. Not. Believe this.” His accent was changing as he spoke for some reason.

Fancy smiled back. “I cannot believe it either Stone, I am about as surprised as you are! What brings you here? The last time I heard you were out in the Griffin Kingdom, what changed your mind?”

Stone shrugged. “You know me, I can’t stay in one place for too long. Had to keep moving. Besides, Griffins are borin’ as hell if you get to know em’. Which I did. They have a thing for music, I’ll tell you ‘dat.”

Stone noticed her behind Fancy, and turned to face her. “Hello, who is ‘dis fine po-nee?” he caressed the ‘e’ sound in his mouth. Fancy rolled his eyes.

“This is my esteemed guest, Pinkie Pie. She is currently staying with me. She decided to take a break, come and see the city. I’ve been showing her around a little.” He slapped a hoof to his forehead. “Oh how rude of me! Pinkie Pie, this is my old colleague, Rolling Stone. He’s a musician. Supposedly.” She looked at his flank, and sure enough there was a picture of some stringed instrument, a caravan behind it.

Stone glared at Fancy mock-seriously. “And what exactly is that meant to mean?”

Fancy grinned. “Well, I didn’t want to tell Pinkie outright that your songs sound like the ‘Friendship Express’’ breaks after they are covered in rust.”

“Oh you’re just so nice Fancy,” Stone said sarcastically.

Fancy grew a smug smile. “Indeed, I’m just likeable that way.”

Stone’s voice took on an uncanny impression of Fancy’s own voice. “Oh yes, quite right, pip pop cheerio scootaloo. Better go see to my perfect mansion then old chap. Oh, and I can play so much better than my amazing friend Rolling Stone. He doesn’t know anything about music.” He burst out laughing when he saw Fancy’s expression. “Oh man, he never likes me doin’ ‘dose impressions.”

The multicoloured - and possibly insane - pony ignored his friend with the ease of much practice and turned to her. “Come on, why don’t I take you all over to my place. It’s not far, and there’re a few new additions to the crew that you might wanna’ meet,” that part was directed at Fancy, “and I can introduce the rest to you... My esteemed guest Pinkie Pie.” he snickered, poking fun at Fancy.

The suited stallion rolled his eyes. “Very well then, this might soak up some time. What do you say, Pinkie?”

“Sure,” was all she said.

Stone struck a pose. “Then let us be off!”

“This is so cool.”

“Yep. And I own it, so it goes where I want it to go.”

The trio were standing in front of a house. With wheels. Well, it wasn’t a house, it was only the size of one, but apparently it was a caravan.

Could’ve fooled me...

The caravan was in the middle of a grassed area, only a few hundred meters from the Artist’s District; easy access for anyone with a fancy for drawing. This drew a confused glance from her, at least until Stone had explained that he could just as easily walk to one of the other Districts, the park let a pony get anywhere.

And it became obvious as to why the caravan would need this access to anywhere the moment she stepped inside to find at least eight ponies already lounging around in any spare crevice. Somehow each pony managed to find a place to stay, some hanging from the roof in hammocks, some in beanbags, some in tiny recessed cavities in the wall. She quickly took off her cloak, worried that she might offend him in some way if she didn’t.

As Stone stepped in some of them called out a greeting, which he returned in kind before turning to his companions. “Welcome,” he said grandly, “to the lair of the Band of Misfits!”

“Shut up! I’m trying to sleep here!” one of the hammock ponies shouted angrily.

Stone winced, and called out a hushed, “Sorry!”

The pink pony was just watching them all. “Why are there so many? You aren’t all family, right?”

Stone’s smile faltered imperceptibly, so little that she thought she had imagined it. “O-of course not, no. We’re just... friends. That needed help. You see, we weren’t... accepted in our homes,” he paused for a second, “our parents weren’t happy with our life choices, and we were thrown out.

“So, we wandered around for a while - separate of course - until we eventually found each other. Likes attract you know, so it was only a matter of time until we were all together. We decided that we should stick together and...” he waved a hoof around him. “This happened.”

She eyed him dubiously. “You built a caravan in a park?”

Stone watched her with a shocked expression before bursting into laughter. “Oh no no, we’re travellers. We didn’t have anywhere to stay, and we knew that we didn’t want to settle down. So we bought a caravan, got our instruments, paints, whatever, and we set out. We basically go wherever we’re needed, so at the moment we’re in Canterlot, performing to the locals. It’s sometimes a hard life, but it’s the only life we have.” He paused to take them further into the caravan and seated them at a small table near the back.

Stone quickly changed the subject and started talking to Fancy Pants, the topics changing endlessly. It seemed that Fancy himself had travelled with the group at one point, himself a singer. She had questioned this, to which Stone said, “No really, if you ever need opera, you’d be hard pressed to beat this guy right here. You would not believe his voice.”

Fancy lowered his head. “Oh no, I wasn’t that good. It’s all in the confidence. Just act like you’re feeling fine, and the audience will pick that up.”

Stone chuckled. “Still modest I see.” He turned to face her. “Anyway, that’s enough about Fancy here, how about yourself Pinkie? I haven’t heard much about you. What do you do? Anything interesting?”

She stuttered slightly. “Oh... no, I’m nothing special. Just... average pony, y’know?” Fancy was giving her a curious look while she was talking. “I’m sure I don’t want to bore you with the details, I’m just a baker, nothing amazing... like you guys!” She was grasping straws, and Fancy was watching her slightly dubiously. Funnily enough, Stone’s own face changed, and he interrupted Fancy as he was about to say something.

“Yes, of course, I’d love to tell you some stories of my travels, with the group that is. I bet that you’ll find them really interestin’.”

Fancy shrugged and nodded. The conversation went on ahead as if nothing had happened. Fancy would occasionally butt in to add something, but for the most part it was Stone who was steering this thought train. He really had an unbelievable life, going all the way from the Griffin Kingdom, to the Dragonlands, to the Zebraharan, and everywhere inbetween. He even claimed to have fought a giant sea serpent, in the Everfree Forest of all places!

...For some reason she doubted the truth behind that claim...

Oddly, almost the whole time she was listening, Stone would watch her to gauge her reaction. She didn’t know why he was doing it, apart from him trying to see what she thought of the stories, but he gave the impression that he was searching for something in particular.

It became incredibly clear exactly what he was looking for when Fancy Pants said he needed to find a toilet. They had already been in Stone’s company for at least an hour, and the other inhabitants of the caravan were still asleep, or were at least incredible mimics.

Almost the moment the suited stallion walked out the door Stone’s attitude changed, and he watched her warily from across the table. She began to get nervous under his gaze.

“So,” he said, “is there any reason that you picked Fancy as a host, or do you have a death wish?”

Her mouth dropped. “W-what? Host? I mean, he’s nice, but h-”

“Why are you impersonating her?”

She froze, her blood running cold. How could he know? “I... I don’t know what you mean. Who am I impersonati-”

“Save it,” he deadpanned. “You can hide it from someone like Fancy, but not someone like me.” He almost looked proud. “It’s obvious that you’re not Pinkie Pie.”

Someone like him? “And who is someone like you.”

His eyes widened. “You really haven’t realised yet? How can you not recognise your own kind you numbskull?! You really are the most pathetic changeling I have ever seen.”

...What?

“But I’m not a... changeling?” What was this guy talking about?

Stone’ expression hardened. “Really now,” he said skeptically. “So you’re in Canterlot, disguised as one of Fancy Pants’ - a stallion that I hold in the highest regard - friends. And you’re not a changeling?” For a moment his eyes flashed green, and his voice started to buzz slightly. “What do you expect me to believe! You better tell me who the hell you think you are right now, or so help me I’m handing you over to the authorities. I don’t take kindly to anyling impersonating my friends, or any of theirs!”

A sudden flashback to that grey mare, Octavia, flew through her mind. Yet another pony, changeling, thing, had found out, or at least had their suspicions.

How do they see through me so quickly? I’M NOT GLASS!

Apparently that didn’t matter, and Stone was watching her impatiently. Some of the other occupants of the caravan were watching her, popping their heads out of the hammocks to watch. There was nowhere to go, and if she ran... well, Fancy would find out soon enough.

Her head fell, and she let out a deep sigh. “Okay, you got me,” she mumbled. “I’m not the real Pinkie Pie...”

Stone motioned for her to stop, and told one of the ‘sleeping’ ponies to stand out the front to watch, just in case Fancy came back unannounced. Then he let her speak, and she told him everything.

He stayed silent the whole time, not even once asking a question. It seemed that he was happy just to let her speak and see what her point of view was. When she was finished however, he raised his hoof and sighed.

“You realise,” he started, “just how unlikely it is that you’re going to meet her right? The Princess?”

She stuttered. “You believe me?!”

Stone shook his head. “Pinkie, or whoever you are, I’ve seen weirder stuff than this before, and frankly the thought of a clone really does not surprise me all too much. Besides...” he shrugged. “You’re in a situation that I’ve had to live with for the last... well, a very long time.. I’m a changeling, it’s how we are.”

He paused. “And I know I’m going to regret this in all likelihood...” She leaned forward in her seat, awaiting his decision. He looked to be having a hard time getting it out of his mouth. Eventually he just sighed and said, “I’m going to have to let you go. I can’t in all good conscience be this hypocritical, especially when it hits so close to home.”

She started laughing in delight. “Oh thankyou thankyou thankyou! I can’t even begin to tell you how much this means!”

He grinned. “You don’t need to. I’ve been in exactly the same situation that you’re in, and I know how it feels. Honestly? I want to see you win this, it’ll feel good knowing that you get off the hook. It’ll be a bit of a wakeup call...” He looked a bit forlorn at this point. “admittedly, you’ll be getting the treatment that we all hop-”

The pony... thing from outside ran in, motioning urgently to Stone. The leader of the group immediately picked up on the meaning and put on his ‘cool face’. A moment later Fancy walked in, looking more than a bit worn.

“I’m dreadfully sorry that I took so long, you would not believe how hard it is to find a hygienic toilet around here, terrible planning I say. Are you ready to go now Pinkie? It’s already getting dark, and you have a big day tomorrow, don’t forget!”

She rose to her hooves and started to follow him. Just before she was out the door something occurred to her, and she turned to face Stone. “You say Fancy travelled with you for a while, performing with you...” She eyed him meaningfully. “Does he know?”

Stone grimaced. “You don’t just tell somepony Pinkie, it isn’t like that, and we aren’t held in the highest regard to begin with. I hate to think what would happen if Fancy found out...”

She held up a hoof. “But he’s going to find out about me tomor-”

“It’s not that easy-”

“I don’t think that Fancy is the kind of pony to judge somepony by their looks...”

Fancy called out from outside the caravan, checking if she was following him, and she hurriedly called out, “Just think about what I said, he deserves to know.”

The last sight of Stone she saw was him staring at the table top. She stopped only to grab her cloak before walking outside.

Outside, Fancy turned to her as they were walking. “So, what did you talk about with Stone?” he asked.

“Oh, just... his life. It’s pretty interesting. You’d be surprised.”

Back at the mansion, she was getting some odd looks. Not anything immediately obvious, but she could notice the occasional glance from Fancy or Polished, a sneaky look from the corner of the eye. The moment she turned to look at them they would turn away, pretend to be doing something else.

It was Fancy Pants that voiced their concerns first. “Pinkie Pie,” he said, “are you sure that you’re feeling alright?”

She put on a smile. “Thanks for the thought, but I’m perfectly fine, believe me.”

Wait, how bad is my coat now?

She quickly excused herself from their company and retreated to her room. The moment she was inside she ran straight to the mirror to check her image.

Her breath halted. Her coat had paled completely, not a single bit left of it’s original colour. Only the cutie mark remained, and it was the faint afterimage of what it once was. And her weird eyes were still there, completely black, no colours at all anywhere! No wonder Fancy had been suspicious of her, or worried, whatever he was. She looked completely different to what she once did!

To make it worse, there was nothing she could do about it, except for meeting the Princesses. That was the only answer to her problems. She would just have to cover up as much as possible and try to escape their attention for the time being.

She shakily climber into bed, trying to block out the bad thoughts about her appearance, and most importantly why she looked that way. it didn’t matter, only one more night and she’d be ready to meet with her savior, the one that would get her cleared of any ‘crime’. Her last thoughts were of Rolling Stone, and his band of ‘ponies’.

They were the only ones that had accepted her outright, without making any demand of her. Unlike Octavia.

Maybe after she was cleared, just maybe, she could get them cleared too...

Deadline

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Here we are... finally. Latest chapter, and latest change of events. Don't forget to like and fav, and COMMENT! Seriously, it's the only way you can give me feedback.

The sun rose above the peak of Canterlot’s mountain with slightly less spectacle than was normal. The only real sign that it was there was a dull bright smudge in the clouds where it might have been. But even that smudge was lost in the blurring curtains of rain that bore down on the city with a vengeance.

She had been watching the weather coming in for about an hour now, waiting for it to reach boiling point. Only in the last ten or so minutes however had the storm actually started. For so long beforehand the clouds had been gathering, clumping together slowly and darkening far above her head, and that was after taking into account that she was staying in Canterlot, the highest place around. If she squinted a little, she could almost make out the pegasus ponies flying around, coercing the clouds to clump together and form the unbroken line that spoke of a maelstrom to come.

A whistling wind struck up, howling past the outlying fringes of the mansion. From her spot on the balcony it was almost deafening, although she was lucky enough to have it coming from behind her, so no rain actually landed on her. It was a small luxury, but it was enough. But it didn’t stop the once-clear landscape from becoming a mire of muddy browns and running water. The flickering of the candle by her bed and the occasional lightening flash was the only light she had, but it was enough to see that Canterlot was a little wet.

She let out a deep sigh, her body relaxing until she was lying down, head resting on her front hooves as she watched the storm. She knew that today could possibly be the last day she would see, this the last sunrise. Funny that. She hadn’t even thought that she’d miss something that simple that much. It was just a big yellow ball after all, a flaming mass in the sky.

And yet...

There was something about it, the welcoming glow in the morning when she woke up and looked outside. The reds and oranges when she went to bed in the evening, after Fancy had shown her the city.

And I don’t get to see it today…

So lost in thoughts as she was, she didn’t even hear the knocking at her door until a shout came through, barely making it into her head – and past the noise of the rain. She looked back to see a very bedraggled looking Polished Mantle standing there, slowly and hesitantly opening the door. His grey fur was looking darker, and water dripped from the top of his muzzle.

He coughed as he caught sight of her sitting at the balcony, doing a quick double-take before hastily recovering. “I’m terribly sorry if I’m interrupting anything miss Pie. I just wished to tell you that breakfast is ready for you if you are hungry.” His smile looked forced for some reason.

“Thanks Polished!” she shouted back. He nodded and looked as if to leave, but a thought slipped into her head, and she stopped him with a shouted, “Actually, do you think I would be able to have it in here?”

Polished hesitated. “Why would you want to eat up here? Wouldn’t you wish you come downstairs and discuss the plan for today with Fancy Pants? I have no doubt that he would want to see how you slept last night.” His eyes wandered around the room, before resting on somewhere behind her, out in the storm. For some reason he just wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Is there something wrong?”

“N-not at all!” she balked, “I… just wanted to set out some clothes for the day! Can’t have myself getting all wet from the rain! The Princesses wouldn’t appreciate that, would they?”

He looked directly at her and sighed. “Very well then, I will be right back with your food. Fancy will not be happy, however. He does enjoy your conversations.” With that he walked out of the room, closing the door softly and leaving her alone again.

Truthfully, the idea to eat by herself was spur of the moment, but there was something that she needed to check before she could go out and talk to Fancy and Polished. Actually, Polished had been acting a little strangely while he was talking, something had surprised him. She stood up with a soft groan, cracking her joints and stretching quickly, before moving over to the dresser. There was a massive mirror on the side of it, a full length one that would let her check her suspicions.

She closed her eyes and stood in front of it, not wanting to see herself. She didn’t want to take the risk of seeing what had changed overnight, if anything…

She opened her eyes and looked.

The face that looked back wasn’t hers, couldn’t have been hers. And yet there it was, staring right back at her, an innocent taunt. But that wasn’t right in the first place. She’d never had her own face, only one that she’d borrowed from another pony. One that had a real life, not a transparent façade. But it was the only face she had.

Whatever semblance of colour was gone. The straight hair was a pale tangle trailing down her sides, the coat ivory lacking any lustre. The once vibrant pink had drained away, leaving only a pale white, lit only by the candle next to her bed and the occasional lightening flash. She was glad for that. If the lighting had been better, then Polished Mantle might have gotten a better look at her.

But it was the eyes. The eyes were as black as before, sunken pits of the darkest night. The surface of them was unbroken, any whites that may have existed absorbed by the spreading darkness. She turned sideways to get a view of herself…

The cutie mark. It was gone. Her flank was bare of any marking, any designation. She may have been able to hide the coat, the eyes, but this would seal her fate. No pony would ignore the loss of a cutie mark than they would the loss of a head. They just weren’t the sort of thing that disappeared.

Well, no turning back now. I’ve got an audience. I’ll just have to hide myself for today, or at least until I can get to the Princesses. At least now I have an excuse for a cloak, or some clothes, or something. Ponies wear those kinds of things in this weather, right?

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts, and she hurriedly swept a hoof through the wardrobe to grab the first thing, anything to hide herself.

She ran over to the door and grabbed at the handle, yanking it open just long enough to utter a hurried, “Thanks!” grab the food offered by Polished’s magic, and retreat with a slam.

Her heart sunk when she heard Polished cough awkwardly and yell out softly, “I think you might want to reconsider your apparel for today, Pinkie. I have the feeling that most Canterlotians do not go about wearing lace undergarments…”

Well… at least he didn’t notice the coat…

She heard him trot softly away on the other side of the door, his hoofsteps drifting away, barely audible over the crashing rain. She turned to the food in front of her and carried it out to the balcony to start eating. The tip of the royal castle was hidden today, unlike the other days where she could just make out the tip of one of the castles.

She knew that she’d have to go out there sooner or later and confront it all, but at the moment she was trying to delay. It was daunting knowing that the culmination of a few days of life might vanish in the space of a second.

But the alternative? Living a lie? Hiding away in Canterlot, hiding the truth from Fancy Pants? She couldn’t do that. Besides, the threat of the guards and Celestia herself bearing down on her was about to come true, courtesy of Octavia.

No. I have to finish this. She gulped. For better or for worse.

If the sound of the rain had been anything to go by, it would have been heavy. It should have bore down on her and soaked her in seconds. It should have been cold, and annoying, and terrible for the day.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t at all like that.

Yep.

It was much, much worse.

She, Fancy and Polished had eyed the rain dubiously from indoors, she and Fancy already in their clothing. Her cloak was doing its job, hiding her features, and she wasn’t going to take it off with anyone around to see.

The rain however, looked like it was going to tear it off of her anyway. Or was that the wind? Could have been either. They were having arguments, it seemed.

She and Fancy had made a dash for the gates, sprinting along the long drive in an effort to reduce the amount of time spent exposed to the elements, or maybe to stop themselves from being blown off the city itself. It could have happened, or so she thought. At first they had thought that they might make it all the way to the castle in one go, running through the rain and getting into the front doors.

They had made it to about the first row of shops before the clouds got really angry.

Hmmm, can a cloud get angry? Actually, I don’t think that I want to know the answer to that one…

The driving rain that threatened to stop them altogether suddenly ramped up to another level. Instead of forcing them back, it slammed them into the ground. Moving anywhere under fire from the watery artillery was impossible, and only the shops were a viable option. That, and the covered areas of the city. All of a sudden, instead of a clear run all the way to the castle, their route became a winding maze of backstreets and alcoves, all in an effort to stop both of them becoming smudges in the pavement.

“Fancy?” she called out, hoping to get an answer over the sound of the rain. “How long do we have until the Princesses expect us?”

The stallion in front of her turned his head over his back, shaking rain out of his mane at the same time and flicking back the hood of his black cloak. “Well,” he half-said, half-shouted, “the audience was scheduled for some time nearing midday, my dear, and the hour is currently half-ten…” He saw her expression and turned, resting a hoof on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Pinkie Pie, I am sure that we will arrive to speak to the Princesses in a perfect condition. It would be best for you to relax. I’ve met Celestia before, and I can tell you that she is much more welcoming than the nobles around here would have you believe.”

“But why would the nobles around here think she was mean?” she queried, worry in her voice.

Fancy chuckled bitterly. “Let us just say that the Princess and the nobles… they don’t mix. And you do not want to see why,” he added as he saw her expression. “Now let us move on. The Princess may tolerate some tardiness, but it is best not to be late in the first place if you ask me!”

Fancy walked on, weaving a path through the narrow covered paths that were made by the small coverings that jutted out from the shop fronts. A steady stream of other ponies was making its way back and forth under the coverings, all of them going about their daily lives as if nothing was different. And their numbers were no lesser, meaning that there was an oppressive crush of ponies passing by on either side of them both. She was having suspicions about Fancy. He seemed to be passing through the crowd with ease, and she couldn’t think of any way he might be able to other than him cheating with a spell…

Wham!

With a startled cry, she fell to the side as a pony brushed into her, pushing her over. The pony – a blue stallion from what she could see – was already moving on as if nothing had happened. The crowd didn’t seem to care either, and everypony passed on with their business.

She staggered to her hooves, pushing herself further towards the shop fronts in an effort to get some modicum of space to stand steadily. There was only a thin sliver, but it was enough for her to get her footing and get a look around. She had to find Fancy. He had been in front of her, and he was her only way of finding her way around the twisting city with any certainty.

All she had to do was find him. Then again, that seemed like a part of the problem. The heads of ponies walking by were blocking her view, preventing her from finding Fancy. She tried to get someplace higher, but everywhere around her was on the same level, and there was no way to elevate her sight.

She started jumping, trying to catch even the smallest glimpse of a pony that might be Fancy. But they all looked the same! Same coat, same build… How could she find him?!

Grrrrr… Why does this have to happen all the time?! Crowds are EVIL!

She hopped up again, hovering in the air for a split second before coming down again. But it was the same view every time, the tops of heads, horns and wings. She started walking in the direction she had been going before. Maybe if she was going the right way she could bump into Fancy again, and then they could keep going. It would be easy, right? All she would have to do would be to… go…

In the right direction…

Oh no, I didn’t did I?

The scenery around her was familiar, but in no good way. This was where she had passed not even a few minutes ago in the other direction. If she was going this way, then Fancy was only getting further away!

She twirled suddenly, some sense of direction and purpose filling her. All she would have to do now would be to go back to where she had come from and continue, then she would be able to catch up to Fancy and reunite!

Her heart sank as she turned. She hadn’t noticed the intersection that split the sidewalk. The whole place was covered, and it was much wider than she had remembered. Or was that just the ponies crowding around her, stifling her, trapping her in their net…

With a gasp she started running. She just had to move, to get away from the crowd and escape. She picked a direction at random and started running along. The ponies she bumped into gave her annoyed glances before being lost again in the crush, forgotten. But she didn’t care, she just had to escape and meet the Princesses, in whatever order possible.

The sidewalk opened up suddenly, revealing a massive crowded area. The markets, the most packed place in Canterlot. Hastily erected covers sheltered the ponies from the pounding rain, and the excess noise didn’t stop the shop keepers from trying to sell their wares. This was the worst place she could be. She would have no chance of finding her way out now. Hay, she didn’t even know how she’d gotten out last time! That was all Fancy’s doing, not her own!

With a muffled sob, she stalked to the wall, found a free spot, and collapsed, her mane folding around her head. The coat felt heavy on her, and she felt an urge to just rip it off, to let the ponies see her. She didn’t care anymore. She just wanted it to end, for it all to go away. Why did she have to get lost? Why did ponies have to chase her? Why was her existence somehow a bad thing?

A pony sat down beside her. She didn’t bother turning, she knew that the pony wouldn’t care if she tried to talk. Maybe it would go away soon, and she would be left on her own again. Did they want something? Why would they sit down next to her?

The stranger nudged her side, uttering a soft, “Hey!” It came out as a hoarse yell-whisper in an effort to be heard above the weather.

She turned her head slowly, still looking at the ground. “What? What is it?” The words came out dull and lacking emotion.

The pony sighed. “You lost too huh?” Without waiting for an answer, it said, “Yeah, same here. Kinda sucks, ya’know? It’d be awesome to just fly up and… clear the clouds. Stupid rain tho’. Can’t get off the ground without being smashed back down. How do earth ponies manage anyway?!”

The mare – there could be no doubt from listening to the voice – obviously wanted something. Nopony around in Canterlot seemed to talk to another without wanting something. She turned her head to tell her that she couldn’t do anything for her…

…And the words got stuck in her throat. Sitting before her was a very familiar, and very curious looking pegasus. And she seemed very…

…Colourful.

“Y-yeah,” the cloaked pony stammered, “the weather’s p-pretty bad today. Yep, sucks.” She shrank back into the folds of her cloak in an effort to hide herself.

The rainbow pegasus – what was her name? Had she heard it before? – chuckled. “Yeah, I’m the lead weather mare down in Ponyville, not to brag or anything, so I’ve seen my fair share of some massive storms. This is like… 8.5 on the scale?” She struck a miniature pose from her sitting position. “I could totally clear this up in a few seconds. Only problem is that it’s Canterlot’s weather n’ all… Not my problem, ya’know?”

The cloaked pony nodded hesitantly. “Yeah… Wrong weather… Can’t touch it. Heh, sucks…?” She trailed off softly.

The rainbow pegasus narrowed her eyes. “Man,” she said, “you remind me so much of one of my friends…”

Her heart froze. “R-really? Is that bad?”

The pegasus shook her head quickly. “Not at all! She’s one of my best friends. Her name is-“

The cloaked pony held her breath…

“-Fluttershy. She’s really nice, I bet that the two of you would hit it off instantly. Anyway, I’m being rude or something. I’m Rainbow Dash!” She held out a hoof, offering it for a shake. The cloaked pony slowly raised her own hoof and clacked it against Rainbow’s. Rainbow grinned widely. “And not to brag or anything, but I’m kinda Equestria’s fastest pegasus. Surprised you haven’t heard of me already.”

‘The fastest pegasus in Equestria’ gasped. “I know!” she exclaimed, “you should totally come with me and meet my friends! I bet you’d love them, you seem like a cool gal’. Come with me, I can totally take you to them.”

Something flagged in the cloaked pony’s mind. “But I thought you mentioned that you were los-“

Rainbow kept talking as if she hadn’t heard. “Yep, totally take you to them.”

Rainbow walked off, leaving her behind. She doubtfully looked at the retreating pegasus and contemplated shrinking into the crowd and disappearing, but a quick look back turned her against that thought. Anything was better than being lost in that crush of bodies.

So, with a slight whimper, she trotted after the rainbow hued tail. For a moment the pegasus turned to her. “Hey, you got a name?” she asked.

The cloaked pony hesitated, thinking of something. She couldn’t just use the name Pinkie, she was sure that this pony knew the real one.

“…Call me Strand…” she said softly, and more than a little unsurely. The pegasus didn’t seem to notice.

“Strand huh? Weird name, but I’ve heard weirder. Come on Strand, I’ll get you to my friends in no time!” She strutted off again, leaving her to follow.

It’s not the best alternative, but I can probably leave her and find Fancy somewhere…

They had walked for at least a half hour, wandering the small streets in an attempt to find somepony. The rain still hadn’t lightened, and the crashes of thunder were becoming louder and louder, shaking the ground they walked on. It was clear that soon there wouldn’t be anywhere to go but for inside. Whether that be the castle, or some house, or even a covered alley didn’t matter. As long as the elements couldn’t get to her she’d be safe.

Rainbow growled beside her. “Oh come on!” she yelled, “how big is the stupid city anyway?” The multi-hued pegasus stamped a hoof on the cobblestone road. “Stupid storm, stopping me from flying. I mean, really. Who the hay makes a storm THIS BIG?! I bet some pegasus screwed the specifics or somethin’, made a class nine when it was meant to be a class three. Seen it happen before.” She huffed and stamped her hoof again.

The two of them were standing in a slightly less crowded part of the city. Sure, there were still ponies, but there were definitely less of them. The only noticeable difference that told the duo that they were in a different part of the city was the general mood of the populace. Instead of pushing past, these new pedestrians were hurriedly darting between stalls, keeping an eye on the sky in case things deteriorated rapidly.

She and Rainbow were lost. Or at least, still didn’t know where to go.

Rainbow turned to her. “Well, this sucks. I dunno, I think the city’s changing around us. It’s a maze or somethin’, I dunno. I’m still trying to figure out how these guys find their way around!”

The cloaked pony’s ears perked up. “Well… why don’t we just ask for directions? They could tell us where to go?”

“Are you crazy?! We do not ask for directions. I bet I can find it myself, just you watch. I’ve gotten us this far, I can find the way out.” Rainbow retorted.

“Please?” she said softly, “I just want to get out of here. There are some ponies that are… expecting me. I really don’t want to be late or anything.”

Rainbow’s eyes softened. “Aww come on… can’t we just… keep going?” She waited for a response, but didn’t get one, apart from the sagging of the cloaked pony’s shoulders. “Fine,” she relented, “we’ll ask somepony. But we go inside first, I don’t trust these guys.” She shot a glare at the passer-by’s.

She walked to a nearby shop – a coffee shop by the look of it, and packed too, due to the weather – and pushed the door open. Immediately, a gale of smells and noise swept over the two, and a yell to, “Shut the darn door! You’re letting the warmth out!”

She hurriedly ushered the rainbow pegasus inside and slammed the door, settling the atmosphere again.

A soft song was drifting around the room, along with a heady stream of sweet scented smoke, and the inhabitants of the shop were packing themselves everywhere they could. Bean bags, chairs, benches and the floor had bodies there. They were all chatting, and most were facing towards the front of the room, where a musician sat on a raised section of ground.

He had a guitar sitting in front of him, resting on his legs. His hooves were dancing over the strings, and both of his eyes were closed in happiness, concentration, or just plain relaxation.

And the musician was most definitely Rolling Stone.

She gasped. A sharp, clear sound. Some of the listeners gave her curious stares, and some annoyed ones. The musician – Stone – opened one of his eyes cautiously to get a look at the pony that made the noise. The eye roamed the room for a moment, before settling on her. A look of recognition settled on him, before his face became a calm lake again.

Rainbow was moving beside her, hopping slowly from side to side in agitation. “Come on Strand, I really don’t think we need to ask for directions, we were going just fine before. Come on, let’s go.”

She held out a hoof and caught Rainbow as she turned to leave. “Just wait a second,” she said, “I know the stallion playing for the shop. Maybe he can help us?”

Rainbow looked at her doubtfully. “Maybe… whatever. Just make sure that it doesn’t take too long. I’m gonna go to the bar or something, grab something to drink. Be back in a sec’.” She trotted off into the crowd in the direction of the counter.

She nodded to herself and turned back to Rolling as he continued to strum along slowly. She waved a hoof at him to gain his attention, and he rolled his eyes before slowly bringing his song to an end with a few carefully placed chords and a bow. As the sounds faded from the air, the audience started to either clap, or groan in disappointment.

Rolling made another grand bow, stating, “Don’t worry folks, I’ll be back sometime today. But you can’t keep perfection forever, and I need to take a break. See you soon everypony!” He finished with another, smaller bow, and a grin, before making his way off the elevated spot and off to the side, taking his guitar with him on his back.

It only took a few seconds for him to come around the crowd and approach her, grinning softly as he got closer. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t my favourite and most mysterious pony again. How have you been?”

She nodded, grinning in spite of herself. “Just fine Rolling. But I’m not here to chat. I lost Fancy in the crowds, and I need a way to get back to him. Canterlot Castle maybe?

Rolling snorted. “Yeah, Fancy losing his companion. Sounds like something he would do. I can get you there, don’t worry. I know you’re new here. If I’m not mistaken you have a very… important appointment today?”

Something flagged in her mind. “Hang on,” she asked, “how did you know it was me behind the hood? I was wearing it so that ponies wouldn’t see me!”

He patted her back. “I’m a changeling honey, lights don’t have the same effect on me. Darkness doesn’t have the darkness part if you’re a changeling...”

“Hey! Get away from her you creep!” A voice shouted out, and not a second later Rainbow Dash was astride Rolling as he was barrelled away. “Nopony touches Strand when I’m here to help!”

“Rainbow, no!” she yelled softly, trying not to attract any more attention than the small tackle had attracted, which wasn’t much considering how packed the room was. “He’s the friend I was talking about!”

“Indeed, Rainbow Hash-“

“Rainbow Dash,” the pegasus growled.

“Rainbow Hash,” he said firmly. “I’m here to help you, as ‘Strand’ so succinctly said,” he said, putting a slight emphasis on ‘Strand’. “Apparently you can’t find your way around Canterlot?”

Rainbow Dash grimaced. “No! We just need to… get directions…” She said the phrase as if she were swallowing a feather.

Stone raised an eyebrow. “Yeah… anyway. I can help you. I’ll probably take you to Canterlot Castle-“

“Hey! How do you know to take us to the Castle?! Have you been spying on us?!” Rainbow accused.

Wait, the Castle? She’s at the Castle?! Since when?

“Not at all,” Stone said cooley, raising an eyebrow. He either didn’t feel anything, or had the greatest poker face in existence. “But it is the most central part of Canterlot in terms of finding your way around this city. Therefore, Castle.”

“…Fine…” Rainbow relented. “Let’s just go already, this is stupid.” She turned tail and walked out the door, outside the shop.

Stone leaned in. “I take it that you haven’t told her about your… situation?”

She shivered. “Not at all, she can’t know. She just can’t…”

The musician hesitated. “Okay, here’s the deal here. I can take you as far as the gates to the Castle, but I can’t take you any further than that. You’ll be on your own then. If Fancy’s there, it’s good. If he’s not, then I’m afraid that you can either come with me, or go inside the Castle. There’s not much else to do.”

“But why can’t you come in?” she asked fearfully. “I can’t go in there alone!”

He smiled sadly. “Strand – should I still call you that? – remember. Changeling. I’m really… not very appreciated here. Especially not after the invasion. The ponies around here think of us as less than insects, and I’m not going to risk them finding out about me. Ever.

“As for the Castle, it’s important. Very important. They wouldn’t have it just sitting there without some sort of protection of some sort. Not long after the invasion the guards put enchantments on all of the outer walls and gates. A changeling can’t pass through without losing a disguise. Believe me, I know that for a fact. I saw one try to get through masquerading as a petitioning pony. You really don’t want to know what happened to him afterwards…” Stone shuddered.

He perked up. “But this is about you, not me. So we’ll get to the Castle, we’ll get you all sorted out, and I’ll split. It’s up to you from there. And remember: If we’re around other ponies, your new name – your identity – has to stick. You’re Strand, I’m Rolling Stone the musician. All. The. Time. Don’t ever forget that. Now let’s go, we’re wasting time.”

She held up a hoof. “But what about what she said before? About the other ponies being there? The ponies that are after me?”

He sighed. “Strand, we have no other choice. You need to get to the Princesses, they’re your only option. Besides, you can just leave them behind. The Castle is bigger than you think. Now come on, now or never.”

Rolling Stone trotted out of the shop, towards an impatient Rainbow Dash, and the cloaked pony – Strand – trotted after him.

I guess I’m Strand now…

...This’ll be strange…

“Are we there yet?”

“No.”

“Are we there yet now?”

“Shut up.”

“Are we almost there ye-“

“RAINBOW DASH!” Stone yelled angrily. “I agreed to take you to the Castle, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t take you through the sewer on the way! Shut up and follow me!” Rolling Stone stalked off.

“Man, what a killjoy,” Rainbow pouted. “It was just question.”

The cloaked pony remained quiet and trotted after her changeling companion, trying not to lose him in the mass of moving bodies and the crash of the rain. A small stream was running along the gutter of every street, and a small mist was rising from the force of the water impacting hard stone.

The musician turned another corner ahead of them and stopped as they both caught up. “Here we are,” he announced, “the Castle.”

Behind her, she could hear Rainbow mutter softly, “I knew we were close…”

In front of them was a large street, the gates to the castle about 100 metres in front of them. They were large, shining bronze things, easily visible through the haze of rain. The area around them was strangely clear of most ponies, only a few stragglers hanging around there in plain sight, all of which were almost being pelted to the ground.

Rolling turned to the pair. “Okay, here we are. You can just make your way inside now. I have to get back to the café. Can’t leave my fans hanging, you know?”

“Why won’t you come with us?” Rainbow asked. “You could totally meet my friends too! I bet you’d all get along so well. And Pinkie would love to throw you two a party!”

Stone chuckled awkwardly. “Listen miss. I’m sure that’d be fine n’ all… but I’ve got some places to be. Excuse me if I decide not to meet up with everypony. Besides, your friends are probably off somewhere else, there’s almost no chance of them finding you he-“

“HEY! RAINBOW DASH! Girls, there she is!”

“-re” the musician deadpanned. “Well,” he groaned, “somepony is just loving the coincidence there…”

A small crowd of shuffling figures darted into their sight-lines. The group almost tackled Rainbow as they ran at her, and one of them did, her features becoming clear as she slammed into the pegasus.

…Pink…

This is bad. Very, very bad.

She discreetly tried to back away from the crowd, and Rolling Stone almost looked to be doing the same thing, possibly for the same reason. But before any of them could escape from sight, the small crowd turned their attention to them.

“My, my. Rainbow Dash, I didn’t know that you’d picked up such a handsome stallion!” one of them practically drooled. “I mean really, you’ve outdone yourself dear!”

Rainbow looked to be blushing. “R-Rarity! This is just some colt that helped take me here! He’s called, like, Rolling Stone or something, I dunno…”

One of the mares walked towards Rolling Stone and stretched out a hoof. “Pleasure to meet’cha, mister. Name’s Applejack. Kinda new to the big city of Canterlot, ya’know? Plenty nice o’ ya to take our friend Rainbow back to us tho’. Mighty helpful.”

Rolling waved a hoof. “No problem miss Applejack, just helping out a mare in need,” one of the mares gave a small, wistful sigh. “Anyway, I’ve gotta get goi-“

“Hiya mister! Thanks a bunch for helping Dashie! That’s super gooper doper mooper – have I said super yet? – flooper of you!” The mare that had tackled the pegasus had jumped in front of Stone and frozen him solid. “My name’s Pinkie Pie, and I looooove to throw parties! You look like the kinda stallion that likes to love to like to throw parties!

“You name was Rolling Stone, right?” she gave him a death glare.

The pink mare was pulled away from behind by a strong, white hoof. The cloaked pony gave a silent sigh of relief. It was scary watching another her, and it brought back memories. Two other ponies were talking to Rolling now, but she tuned them both out and tried to back away slowly, keeping herself as close to the ground as possible…

“Oh my, I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was standing… I’m sorry…”

The bundle of yellow that she had just backed into was hurriedly spouting apologies as she backed away. All of the mares turned their attention to the commotion, and the cloaked pony started to shrink back, trying to make herself as small as possible.

...Why are they looking at me...?

Rainbow Dash walked forward and swept a hoof in her direction. “Oh yeah, that’s right. Girls, this mare’s called Strand, she’s pretty cool. I met her all alone someplace around here!”

A chorus of sympathetic shouts came her way.

“Oh, the poor dear!”

“That’s a real shame there missy.”

“Oh no, you poor thing! I can’t imagine being lost like that!”

“Darling, that is truly terrible. A mare? All by herself?”

One of them, the purple one, walked forward and started to lead her forward while the rest of the group followed slowly. Rolling Stone was caught up between the orange and the white one, both of which were asking him questions about what he did.

The purple one started to talk to her. “I hope that you’re okay now, I hate to think that somepony was mean to you. But you’ll be alright now, my friends and I can help you find your way back. We’re actually on our way to the castle now, so if you want to come along we can get you some help there!”

The cloaked pony stuttered. “Uhh, sure. That sounds… great. I…” she couldn’t think of a way of declining that wouldn’t sound suspicious. “I might just wander along with you?”

They came out from under the shelter of the shop fronts, and the rain immediately lessened, as if something was above them that stopped most of the force. The gates to the castle passed by her, like great behemoths, a silent passing of her sentence. There would be no escape here, not within the castle. Especially not with this particular group of ponies.

A thought ran into her head that made her blood run cold.

A group of ponies… and one more…

She turned to make a silent warning, but the purple one had turned as well, and was watching from behind her. Anything she did would be seen. She couldn’t give herself away, not so close to her goal.

Rolling Stone was standing near the gates, just short of their border. He was trying to decline an invitation to come within the grounds. The rainbow one, Rainbow Dash, was encouraging him.

“Come on pally, it’s great here, I bet that even the Princesses will be after you man. You could play to everypony. Seriously, get in here!”

“Oh, that’s great, but I’ve really gotta be go-“

“Nonsense darling, can’t you come inside for just one moment?” the white one asked from behind him. He backed away from her slightly, and one of his hooves drew close to the invisible boundary. Tiny sparks flew from where his hooves neared it, and a slight glow sprang up, hinting at a far greater and larger dome-wall that existed out of sight.

“No, really, I must be somewhere el-“

The pink one jumped at him, almost smashing into his face. “COME ON!” she shouted, “You’ll have a great time! Just give it a try!” She leaped forward again and crash tackled him, spinning him around…

…And right into the invisible wall.

A great burst of light flew out, and as he passed through the wall she could see his disguise being stripped away. In less than a second, the exposed and prone form of what was Rolling Stone was strewn across the ground.

The mares had hidden their eyes when the light flew out, but the moment it was gone they had looked. Gasps echoed around, and guards that were posted nearby were already running, evidently from the burst of light.

There was a moment of paused, before every mare shouted, “Changeling!”

In a moment the guards had closed in and grabbed Stone, pulling him to his hooves and roughly handling him into hoof-cuffs.

“Come on you slimy insect,” she heard one of the grunt, “you’re gonna have a nice little vacation in the dungeons.”

The group of mares around her started talking as he was dragged away, and one of them might have patted her back in sympathy. She caught something about them being sad for one of her friends being impersonated.

But she knew the truth.

Her only ally had just been taken away, and was now in the hands of those that wanted him gone.

And she was alone with the mares that wanted her gone.

Inside

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Things are progressing as planned... *evil face*
Enjoy the chapter, tell me what you think. Have fun!

The ceiling over Canterlot remained resolute, in spite of having stayed in placed for nearly half a day. How something could stay in place for so long escaped her. Obviously this was orchestrated, as with everything else, by ponies. So why would they schedule rain for so long? It was nearly infuriating that somepony would do this on the one day she had to make things right, to save herself.

Water slowly trickled down the nape of her neck, making her almost shiver. She managed to suppress the urge with difficulty, trying to ignore the frigid water that gradually made its way inside her hooded cloak. She wanted so much just to throw back a hoof and wipe it away, but doing so would mean flicking her hood off, and that would be…

Well, to put it simply it wouldn’t be good. No way about it. If her hood came off, if the ponies gathered around her saw her face for what it was, she was in for a lot of trouble. She shivered for a moment, ever so slightly, but it wasn’t because of the rain.

A hoof bumped into her side and she turned her head slightly. Twilight Sparkle was looking at her, concern in her eyes. “Hey,” she said, “you holding up alright there?”

The cloaked pony nodded imperceptibly and mumbled something that not even she could make out. Twilight smiled weakly and nodded her head. “Don’t worry Strand, we’ll help you get Rolling Stone back, the real one that is.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe that the changelings still think that they can get inside Canterlot, or any pony city for that matter.”

Rainbow Dash, always so brazen, stuck her head in-between the pair. “Yeah!” she shouted. “No dirty changeling is gonna stop us from getting you back to your friend! You can count on me, Rainbow Dash!”

The orange pony – Applejack – coughed obviously, and Rainbow blushed under her blue fur. “I-I mean, Rainbow Dash and her five furious companions!” Applejack shook her head and snorted.

The cloaked pony shrunk down from the cyan mare’s open loudness. “I-it’s nice that you’re helping and all… but I think that I can make my own way fro-“

“And of course, dear, we have to take you something nice and dry, get you all sorted out. I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now. Stuck out with six strange mares, your friend exposed for a changeling and now missing.” Rarity, the pony talking, struck a pose with a hoof to her head. “Oh, I simply wouldn’t be able to bear it!”

“N-no, it’s fin-“

“Oh, oh! Pick me! Me!” A pink head shot into her field of vision, and she stumbled over her hooves to back away, thinking that maybe the pony had seen inside her hood. Pinkie fell down from what was apparently the sky, and started shouting away. “We need to take you to the kitchens, stat! I can make you the best cakes that you’ve ever tasted! They’ll be even tastier than that! In fact, they’ll be a taste explosion! There won’t be anything left of your mouth when I’m done with you! Come on, let’s go! Time’s a-wasting, and I need those kitchens- oomph!”

Twilight smacked a hoof into her muzzle and started scolding Pinkie about how she couldn’t just waltz into Canterlot and completely take over the kitchens so she could bake a cake.

The cloaked pony sighed and sank onto the ground, the cloak settling between the ground and her fur, stopping the moisture from soaking in. The other ponies didn’t even seem to notice, too caught up in a semi-argument. Twilight was lecturing Pinkie, Rarity was still pondering all of the terrible possibilities that could have happened, Applejack was rolling her eyes and trying to make a point in edgeways. Rainbow Dash seemed to be doing her own thing trying to interrupt Twilight.

And the last one…

A petite cough interrupted her thoughts, and she leaped up into the air for a moment, startled at the intrusion to her space. Her head whipped around, only to find that yellow one, Fluttershy. She was looking at her with worried eyes, concern evident on her features. Fluttershy reached out a hoof in front of her in an effort to touch the cloaked pony, just to close the gap.

“Are you alright? You seem a bit nervous.” She mumbled. Before the cloaked pony could answer, she hung her head a little. “Oh, what am I saying! Of course you wouldn’t be okay! I can’t believe that I just asked you that! Oh, please say that you don’t mind, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings in any way…” She finished with such a sad look in her eye that the cloaked pony couldn’t resist placing a hoof on Fluttershy’s already outstretched one.

“It’s fine,” she said, “you didn’t offend me. I’m just a bit…” She waved a hoof around her head and sighed softly.

Fluttershy gasped. “Oh, you poor thing! Nopony else had even asked you how you were feeling earlier! I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise that you were so sad!” She practically leaped at the cloaked pony and wrapped a hoof around her neck, only just avoiding dislodging the hood. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?” she mumbled into the soft black fabric of her cloak.

The cloaked pony became aware of the silence that was surrounding her. All of the other ponies around her were staring at her, Fluttershy still wrapped around her neck. Rainbow coughed loudly, and Fluttershy suddenly started, flying out of her embrace with a heavy blush on her features.

Twilight was the first one to break the silence that threatened to continue indefinitely. “Uhh, girls? How about we head inside? I imagine that Strand might want to mull things over with Fluttershy here.” Rainbow looked like she was about to say something, but Twilight silenced her with a stern glare. “So why don’t we just head off now?” It was less of a question, and more of a statement that threatened consequences if anypony decided against it.

Rainbow hastily nodded and trudged off, mud squelching under her hooves. The other four ponies strolled after her, except for Rarity who was complaining about the weather and mud, and Pinkie, who gave Fluttershy a wink, a smile, and a shouted, “Have fun!”

The cloaked pony turned to watch Fluttershy, who was trying to look anywhere but the pony sitting in front of her. A few awkward seconds passed before a passing guard glanced in their direction curiously and walked over.

“Are you two okay there?” he asked. “It is raining you know. There’s no reason to be outside in this weather.”

Fluttershy nodded and stood up, the cloaked pony mirroring her. The two slowly trudged up the gently sloping path up to the castle doors, the guard watching them for a few seconds before turning back to his rounds.

Fluttershy looked at the cloaked pony for a moment as they walked along. “So...” she said softly, barely audible over the rain, “why are you here in Canterlot?”

The cloaked pony froze. “Me? I’m just here to... stay with a friend. He wanted to show me around Canterlot for a while and I... just couldn’t turn him down. Yeah. And he was going to show me around the castle as well, but I lost him today in the rain.”

“The castle?” Fluttershy asked slowly. “Oh, he must be very important then... What’s his name?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t know him. He just works here, so he’s allowed to take visitors through...”

The yellow pegasus looked at her with amazement, and the cloaked pony started to sweat underneath her heavy robe. She breathed a sigh of relief when Fluttershy said, “Working at the castle...” with a slow whistle.

The two walked on again, slowly approaching the enormous doors to the castle. Giant golden things they were, almost seeming to glow in a soft golden light, even behind the thick curtain of rain that obscured everything else in sight. There was a palpable amount of awe that hung in the air around the two as they stood there. “Wow,” Fluttershy whispered from next to the cloaked pony. “This always impresses me. A castle, and me inside.” She shook her head. The cloaked pony nodded, unseen to Fluttershy, and walked forward to gently nudge open one of the doors. It swung open silently on perfectly oiled hinges with barely any pressure.

The other group of mares had already passed through the doors, and when Fluttershy and her companion walked through there was no sign of them. The only pony they could see was what looked like a janitor, doing slow sweeps of the ground with her broom, which was hovering in a soft silver light.

Fluttershy made no attempt to move, so the cloaked pony instead walked over to the janitor, who gave a small start when she noticed the new company, and another when she saw the black-cloaked pony walking towards her.

The janitor turned to face her, the broom resting on the ground. “Well hi there! What brings you to the castle this fine day?” She gave a bitter laugh before smiling. “Hmmm? Are you looking for anypony in particular?’

The cloaked pony looked behind her for a moment, spying Fluttershy looking at her hopefully. For a moment she considered simply leaving the yellow pegasus behind.

...But then how do I meet the Princesses? I have no clue where to go, and I can’t just leave Fluttershy! She’ll immediately tell somepony...

“Yeah,” she said slowly, turning back to the janitor. “I’m looking for five mares. They would have walked through here a few minutes ago. Do you have any idea where they might have gone?”

The janitor whistled quietly. “You mean the group with Twilight Sparkle? I dunno who you are miss, but those are some pretty important ponies walking through there, I have about no clue where they would have gone,” she paused, and glanced at Fluttershy standing behind the cloaked pony, “But if that’s who I think it is, then you should try going up the stairs and to the left. That way’ll take you to the audience chamber for the Princesses. That’s probably where the group went, so you might want to go there.”

The cloaked pony nodded and waved for Fluttershy to follow her. “Thanks miss, I’ll go there then.”

“Clean Sweep,” the janitor said. “My name’s Clean Sweep. Just for future reference y’know. Don’t forget to mention me to the Princesses.” Clean grinned and barked a laugh, before turning back to her job. “Good luck with the Princesses, I heard that they’re not happy at the moment, caught a changeling or something.” She shook her head. “Stupid bugs, always trying to get in here. Bah.”

The cloaked pony quickly hurried up the staircase, immediately regretting staying to hear Clean talk to herself. Fluttershy ran up beside her, trying to keep up. They took the left at the top of the stairs, turning onto a massive corridor that immediately reminded her of Fancy’s mansion. Pictures of nobles and the Princesses lined the long walk, and artifacts stood on stone plinths. Occasionally doors would appear on the side of the corridor as they walked along, but for the most part it was just empty corridor.

That was until a guard appeared in front of them, emerging out of a small door. He had blue coloured hair, white fur, and was hastily trying to buckle up armour around his body as he walked into their path. He let out a cry of alarm when he caught sight of her, but smiled when he noticed Fluttershy.

“Hey, it’s you! I haven’t seen you since the wedding, Fluttershy! How’s Ponyville been!” he asked, walking towards the pair slowly. Fluttershy walked over to him, smiling as well.

“Oh, it’s been great, Shining Armour, just great.”

The guard grinned. “That’s good to hear. You girls always seem to be getting into trouble, if my sister’s report’s are anything to go by. Every day there’s a threat to Equestria, or something silly that gets out of control.” He shook his head, but seemed to remember that there was another pony. “And you are?”

“I-I’m... Strand,” the cloaked pony stuttered, getting nervous.

“She’s staying with the girls and me for a while. A changeling impersonated one of her dear friends, and now she’s lost in Canterlot. It’s terrible,” Fluttershy said, dropping her head.

Shining glanced at the cloaked pony in a new light. “Oh really now... Because I was just on my way to interrogate a changeling that had been caught walking right through the gates...” He pointed a hoof at her. “Say, you wouldn’t be against talking to the changeling, right? You might be able to find out where your real friend is, and save us a heap of time and trouble, if you can point out the lies. Does that sound good to you?”

The cloaked pony had been about to flat out deny the offer, but hesitated. If she decided that she wouldn’t talk to Stone, then everypony would get suspicious. Why would there be a reason that she didn’t want to find her friend? And if she did go and talk to Stone, then she would be able to lose her present company and avoid Twilight. But she would be walking deeper into the castle...

No, there’s no way that they would know who I am. They’re just guards. But the others... If they see me without my cloak, I’m busted. Gone. Simple as that...

She shifted from hoof to hoof nervously. “Sure,” she said eventually, “I’ll go with you and talk with... with the changeling...”

“Great!” Shining Armour said. “Fluttershy, why don’t you go and catch up with the girls. I think I saw them pass me a while ago back there before I went to the armoury. They should be in the audience chamber by now. They’re probably waiting for you right now.”

Fluttershy nodded and smiled before walking away down the corridor. Shining waited until she had started moving before walking in the other direction, away from the cloaked pony’s pursuers.

There was no conversation, although Shining Armour shot her a few sympathetic glances. About half a minute later they had arrived at another door, one that looked considerably more sturdy than any others, but looked just as ornate.

The guard pushed open the door with a hoof and motioned inside. “I’ll say this now. You don’t have to go down there and talk to the changeling if you don’t want to. Nopony’s forcing you to do this. Just remember that if at any point you want to back out.”

The cloaked pony looked into the dim blackness that lay beyond the door timidly, but thought of what awaited her if she walked the other way back towards the Princesses. She made up her mind.

“I’ll go.”

Their hoofsteps echoed softly in the cobbled tunnel. The whole place had a dark, almost intimidating feel to it.

Immediately after the door had closed behind her, torches had sprung into life along the walls, lighting up a stone corridor that angled downwards. How far downwards they had walked so far she didn’t know, but she had the impression that leaving again would not be easy. Not at all.

All of a sudden the tunnel plateaued, becoming flat and widening into something approaching an open chamber. The roof was still low, and the place was still lit by torchlight, but it was noticeably bigger. Another guard sat at one corner of the chamber behind a desk. A barred door lay beside him, and a corridor stretched past that into the darkness. Shining made his way straight for that guard, and the cloaked pony followed.

The guard looked up from his desk, and hastily stowed away a book that had been sitting there before saluting. Shining waved away the formality. “It’s good to see you Stoic, but there’s no need for that kind of thing here.”

The guard looked at Shining unsurely before relaxing. “Well, at least I can be sure that you’re still the real Shining Armour... How have you been? And what brings you here, to humble Canterlot? Weren’t you up north with Princess Cadence? Too many crystal ponies for your liking?”

Shining chuckled. “This is my vacation, if you can believe it. So much for a life of luxury as practical royalty. I guess that they can’t handle Canterlot without me here. Requested some assistance and all. Pain in the flank if you ask me...”

Stoic grinned. “Yeah, but you wouldn’t have liked that anyway.”

“It’s true,” Shining said, “Too boring. Oh, where are my manners. Strand, this is Stoic Keep. Stoic, this is Strand. We’re here to see that changeling that just came in. Strand knows the real guy and might be able to help.”

Stoic looked at her sympathetically. “Good luck there, Miss Strand, it’s always bad to lose a friend when a changeling hides them away...” He reached behind the desk and brought out a key. Stoic stood up, cracking his back in the process loudly, before trotting over to the barred door and opening it with a loud screech. “Good luck again, and I hope that you find the original. Bloody changelings...”

Shining gave Stoic a stern glance before patting the cloaked pony on the back. “You’ll be fine,” he said, “we’ll get your friend back with no problems at all.” With that he walked briskly through the doorway and into the darkness.

The cloaked pony walked through behind him and started shaking. The only light came from Shining’s horn, which had started glowing as he entered the darkness. She leaped into the air as she heard the gate close behind her with a loud clang, moments before hearing the lock turn in place. Shining turned his head, throwing shadows around them, and gave her a smile. “Don’t worry,” he said, “it’s only a precaution. We don’t want any possible dangers at all getting out. But like I said, just a precaution.” He turned his head back and trotted on, the cloaked pony hesitantly following.

Maybe this wasn’t such a good choice after all...

They passed by many more barred gates, and it took her a moment to realise that they were cells. She caught a glimpse into one as Shining passed by, his light spilling into it. She immediately hurried on, trying to displace the image of a pony curled up in the corner, unkempt hair spilling around their body as they shivered softly.

And they kept walking.

“Ahh, here we are,” Shining said. “The interrogation rooms.”

His voice brought her out of her thoughts, and she almost bumped into the door in front of her. She had been following her lead with nary a thought and hadn’t thought to keep track of the many intersections that they had reached. In front of her stood a row of heavy looking metal doors, each numbered and each with a small slot in the face.

“I think we’re looking for number five,” Shining said as he walked along the row. She followed, and when he stopped outside of the correct door he turned to her.

“Now, I’ve already said this, but it’s not too late to back out. You may not want to talk to the changeling, they are a crooked race. If you want to turn back and leave I can escort you out.”

Just get me out of here!

“Actually, I think I might le-”

“Ahh, Armour! You’re here! Finally, I was beginning to think that you wouldn’t show! Okay boys, we’re ready get started!”

“Hello there, Harsh. Good to see you again.”

A wildly grinning pony in armour came out of the suddenly opened door numbed five. He was taller and larger than Shining, and was wearing what looked like an eyepatch. That didn’t deter Shining as he walked up and greeted the other stallion with a fierce... hug?

The pony, Harsh, slapped Shining on the back as they broke up, still grinning. “We’ve got that changeling all ready to talk to us. We just need a talker on our side. I hope you’re ready, ‘cause then we can get started!”

“That’s great, but I also have a witness, if that’s okay as well,” Shining said.

Harsh’s mood visibly dropped. “Oh, right...” He caught sight of the cloaked pony standing off to the side of their exchange. “And I guess you’re that pony? Geez, I always hate being reminded of the witnesses, just reminds me of how bloody evil those bugs are.” He clenched his jaw in frustration. “Well then, let’s get started...”

“Oh, well, I was thin-” the cloaked pony started softly.

“Come on, come on, we haven’t got all day!” Harsh interrupted. “We need to get this guy talking now! Your friend could be in danger!”

The cloaked pony started to back away from the larger stallion. “Umm. Well. You see...” She kept backing away, and Shining was eyeing her with concern. “I was going to say that...”

Something snagged on her cloak, right near her shoulder. She was dimly aware of something sharp sticking out of the wall, a sharp silver thing glinting off the dull underground light. She didn’t hesitate to keep walking, hoping that it would rip through her cloak and let her keep moving.

But it didn’t. Ever so slowly, the still slightly soggy cloak tore.

First came the sound, and that was the only warning she had before the rip continued. It ran straight along her neckline, pulling the cloak around and separating a large portion clear from her body.

She froze, her blood turning to ice. All too suddenly she became aware of the feeling of air on her face and realised something. The rip had completely severed her hood, which was now lying on the ground.

The room stood silent. Harsh was watching her curiously, while Shining’s face wore something that approached shock. But that changed. As she watched, his features changed to confusion, then recognition, and then anger.

That was the only warning she had before he charged straight at her and tackled her to the ground.

She was dimly aware of Shining yelling as her world spun to the ground, yelling for Harsh to get his guards, that there was another changeling. The only thing that she could concentrate on was the ringing in her ears and the weight on top of her.

Something encompassed her, lifting her up. She opened her eyes for a moment and saw a dim blue glow surrounding her, mixing with many other colours at the same time. She was being lifted, and ponies were around her, and they were shouting in anger.

She was dropped onto the ground, onto the hard ground. There was a slamming noise. And then darkness.

Just darkness.

Optimist

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Here we are, finally. Tell me what you all think. This has been floating around for a few weeks now.
Oh, and by the way. Never underestimate editors. They are the greatest thing in the world. Alpha151. Worship that guy.

A faint dripping slowly woke her, seeping into her groggy mind. She tried to ignore it for a while. That worked, but very quickly the sound started to drill through her ears.

Drip...

It wasn’t loud, just insistent. No matter how she turned trying to escape it, the noise somehow found a way into her ear and into her head.

I should really tell Polished Mantle about it, maybe he can fix it later...

Ice flooded her veins at the thought. She wasn’t in the mansion any more.. No, she was...

Memories flew into her head. Entering the castle, meeting the guards, going underground.

Being caught.

Her head shot into the air, eyes wide and flying around the room in a panic. It wasn’t a room however. It was obviously a cell. From what little she could see in the incredibly low light environment, there was only a door, a floor and walls made of unevenly fitted rocks, and a set of metal shackles set into the wall. There was nopony in them at the moment, and they jangled quietly as the occasional droplet spattered against their rust-strewn surface.

There was nothing else. They were the only things in the room. Not a bed, not a light, not a balcony. Only her, the shackles, and a barred door. A thin sliver of light was shooting through the gap between the bottom of the thick door and the floor. That was the only way she could see, and even then half of the cell was in complete darkness.

She slowly staggered to her hooves, slipping a few times on the uneven floor. There was barely any way for her to get a proper balance. For all she knew there could be a massive drop off right in front of her, or there could be a key to the door. There was no way of knowing in the constant half light of her cell.

A droplet of water hit her head, a tiny amount of liquid. She opened her mouth and looked to the ceiling, hoping to get a drop for her parched throat. Unluckily, she did. All she could do then was gag on the stagnant taste of stale water. In fact, most of the floor was already wet. This water had probably been flowing through the roof and onto the floor for years, or maybe only since the recent rain storm.

And still the only sounds were the dripping and the jangling. Faint reflections would glance off the chains and into her eyes, giving her a view of the metal. She slowly walked towards the one landmark of her cell...

And immediately backed up against the wall hastily. What she had once mistaken for rust wasn’t, or at least from what she could tell. It was something brown, and something dull, something that smelled. And it was not what she wanted to see in the cell.

Thoughts of what might come to pass with her life flashed through her head, and she started to quiver, curled up against the back wall.

She wasn’t sure how long she lay there in the cold, the dark and the wet, although it had to be a long time. But things like this don’t make for excitement, and it was only so long that she could resist the temptation of sleep, her eyelids slowly drawing steadily downwards.

Then sleep claimed her.

The sound of gears grinding brought her out of her rest, slowly reawakening her to the darkness surrounding. Something was moving, and she could see a sliver of light growing. She hastily covered her eyes with a hoof and pushed herself into an upright position.

The grinding continued, and she could hear somepony cursing quietly. “Damn door, always getting stuck on me!” There was a sudden slamming noise, and the sliver of light turned into a torrent, pouring through the open doorway and smashing into her. She crouched down in the corner of the cell, trying to keep as much distance between her and the onslaught of luminosity.

The sound of loud stomping from the corridor outside made her ears prick up. She could only barely catch the end of a conversation too. It was hushed, and the ponies almost seemed to be whispering. But after complete silence, even whispers were loud.

“Disgusts me.” she heard somepony say. “I still don’t know why the bugs still try to get inside here, even when they already know that there is nothing good for them, especially if they get caught. I wonder what drives something like that to steal the life of a perfectly good pony away from them. More to the point, I wonder what gives them the right...” The voice was strong and rough, and almost a perfect match for Harsh, the guard that had not too long ago appeared welcoming to her.

A soft feminine voice answered him. “Harsh, you know as well as I do that there is no understanding the minds of the changelings. Their minds are as their bodies, dark and full of holes. For all we’ve researched, we have evidence to believe that they have a hive mind at the same time. They could all be linked, and really be nothing more than spies for the queen. We just can’t be sure.”

The male voice grumbled loudly. “Still,” it said eventually, “why do you have to interrogate this one in particular? It’s obviously just another one that thought it could sneak in!” The voice paused. “Not that I have anything against a princess choosing to take an interest in matters of security, only that...”

“Only that what?” the feminine voice replied.

“...Only that it’s unusual I guess.”

“We are very much unusual Harsh, you should know that by now,” the voice laughed.

The captured imposter gingerly opened one eye. Slowly, of course, as to now instantly burn away any possible vision that she might have had. She could barely make out the silhouette of a burly pony next to a bright rectangle of light. The image quickly resolved into a guard pony standing by the opened door to her cell. He was completely still, but she could have sworn that for just a moment his eyes flickered to her, and his face turned to one of anger. But just for a moment before he snapped back to attention.

Two more shapes appeared next to the first. One looked almost identical to the other guard, probably Harsh. The other was bigger. She caught a glimpse of a flowing mane, a massive horn, and wings, a dark body...

She rubbed her eyes to try and clear her blurry vision, and the bulky pony, probably Harsh, turned his head in her direction.

“Well princess, it’s awake.”

“Very good, very good... I think it’s about time we figure out what’s interesting about this one. Bring it to the chambers, I’ll have the girls assemble there,” said the feminine voice.

“Yes, your majesty. Right away.”

“You know what I said to you about calling me that.”

“...Yes, your majesty” There was a definite laugh in that statement. The larger pony - the princess - shook its head and walked away from the door and out of the captive’s sight.

Harsh’s demeanor suddenly changed, becoming more like his namesake. The jingling of chains echoed through the cell, and the guardponies started towards her. One of the immediately pinned her back to the ground, her neck as well. Harsh grabbed her rear hooves roughly and clipped something cold and hard to them, locking them both together. He moved to the front and did the same thing, before moving back to the door.

She wondered if she could get up and have the weight removed from her back. Sadly, Harsh came back with one more thing. The bulky guardpony lifted a leather collar from off his back and held it over her neck. A second later there was a pressure around her throat, and the leather was attached.

The weight lifted off her back, allowing her to properly breath for the first time in a minute. She shakily stood, the two guardponies watching her like hawks. Harsh looked to be wearing a cord that was connected to his armour. He started walking and she was gently pulled along by the collar. She was forced to take awkward short steps as the chains stopped her legs from reaching their full extent.

Great, now I’m chained like... some sort of monster...

The guards lead her out of the cell, pulling her along by the collar. A corridor stretched off into the darkness outside, fading away into the gloom. Harsh saw her eyeing it hopefully and said, “Don’t even think about trying to run. Just come along peacefully now and we can have no trouble.”

She nodded meekly and let herself be directed by the guardpony. The one behind her was humming something quietly behind her back, but she couldn’t recognise it. Nevertheless, the sound of his humming echoed eerily down the corridor, quietly reverberating. The hard stone only served to increase the sound and make it something out of a nightmare, or at least that was what she thought.

She wasn’t alone either. More cells lined the walls around her, rusted iron doors sitting sturdily in place. Each one was sealed and closed, barred and locked. There were no guards around these doors. What was the need? Nopony would be able to knock them down or open them, and if they did then they would have to escape the labyrinth-like corridors.

They walked for an uncertain amount of time, occasionally taking turns and picking intersections where the only clue would be a symbol or a number, no concrete directions. That didn’t stop Harsh. He seemed to know exactly where to go at all times, and he took no pauses in choosing what appeared to be the correct turns.

Just as she was starting to get tired, Harsh stopped. In front of them sat a row of heavy looking doors, each one with a number on it. They were - like every other door in the place - locked and sealed. That is, except for one. This door was the one that Harsh stopped in front of, number seven by the looks of it. This door was wide open, and there was a white room within.

Harsh unclipped the rope from her collar and fastened the end to his armour, before saying, “Come on, get in there. Haven’t got all day.”

The chained prisoner meekly lowered her head and trotted into the white room, closely followed by Harsh himself. The other guardpony stood outside and closed the door after them with a loud CLANG!

Inside the room, everything was white. The walls were white, the inside of the door was white. The table with chairs around it was white. She was white.

Feels like I was meant to be here, in this room... she thought bitterly.

Harsh walked over to the table in the center of the room and pulled out one of the two chairs, each on opposite sides. He beckoned for her to sit down, before walking to the other side of the room and knocking on the wall.

Barely a moment later, a whole section of the room opened up and a large pony appeared, closely followed by six more...

And they looked very familiar...

The princess, obvious because of her winged and horned nature, walked straight to the table and stood next to it, staring at her passively. Her coat was the darkest of blues, and a sparkling mane cascaded down her back.

The captive looked at the other six. Fluttershy was trying to avoid looking at her, while the rest just seemed to be completely hostile, while Twilight was watching with undisguised curiosity.

That was, all except one. Pinkie Pie was just staring at her, her mouth set in a slight frown.

The silence stretched on as the ponies looked at each other. It was completely unbalanced, eight against one if you included Harsh, who was trying not to pay attention but couldn’t help glancing at the prisoner occasionally.

Eventually, Luna placed a hoof on the table slowly, staring directly into the eyes of the captive.

“Do you know why you are here, creature?” she asked, slowly and carefully.

The captive swallowed loudly. “B-because I’m different?” she said unsurely.

Rainbow Dash growled. “Different?! You’re not different, you monster! You’re just trying to look like the original! Why I out-”

“Silence yourself, Miss Dash. Do not let your temper proceed you,” the Princess cut in forcefully. “We are trying to find answers here, not become enemies.” She glanced back at the prisoner. “No matter how strange they may be. Even if they somehow get all the way into the castle. This is why we talk, to find these things out. To investigate.”

“Princess?” Twilight said softly. “If I may, I think we can already make a few assumptions. We know that there is an anti-changeling shield around the castle, so we can say that the chances of a changeling getting in are extremely slim. At the most, a probability of nine-hundred and fifty million to one against.” Twilight saw the others looking at her strangely. “Look, I like doing the numbers, you should know that by now.

“Anyway, as I was saying. The chances of a changeling getting through are slim.”

I think I like where this is going... Please let me be innocent in their minds...

“But,” Twilight said loudly, “there are a few strange occurrences around this. One, there was another changeling with this one as they went through the shield. Admittedly, this one went first, but the same principle applies until we can do further testing. For all we know at the moment, additional targets can wear down the spell and make each victim of it have lessened results.

“Two, it was wearing that cloak the whole time. It might have had a resistance to the knock-out part of the detection spell, so the cloak would stop us from seeing if it had changed back.

“With all that said,” The purple unicorn said with finality, “we can have the assumption that this changeling is in fact hostile, as nothing would go through that much trouble only to be caught up in the castle.”

“Well,” the Princess said eventually, “that is quite a theory. It certainly makes some sense. However, I think that we should take into con-”

“I trusted you,” a quiet voice said.

All heads in the room turned to the source, the butter yellow pegasus that was staring at the floor.

“I’m sorry, what w-” the Princess started.

“I trusted you, and you lied to me the whole time.” Fluttershy lifted her head. There were tears in her eyes, streaming down her muzzle. But her eyes... they were angry.

“I thought that you needed help, that you had just lost what you thought was a friend. I thought that you were scared and angry, and that you needed a pony by your side...”

Rarity tentatively reached for Fluttershy’s side, trying to make her relax, but the pegasus started walking towards the table.

“You betrayed my trust,” she said as she walked. “You betrayed my friends. You were just using me to get your plans to work.” She glared at the chained pony, who was pressed against the back of her chair. “You know what you are?”

Fluttershy leaned over the table. “You’re nothing but a monster,” she spat. “Even Discord didn’t outright lie to us like that. I don’t know anypony that would sneak around, telling things that aren’t true, just so that they can turn around and stab them in the back.”

Applejack held a hoof forward. “Wait a sec ‘Shy. Don’t you think that you’re bein’ a mite too harsh there? I mean, we don’ even know what it was trying to do in Canterlot.”

Rainbow shook her head. “Applejack, this thing just snuck into the castle, past all the defences. It's obviously a spy! For all we know it could have been sent here to kill somepony! It could be an assassin to get the princesses! It’s just like Daring Do! This is the evil guy, and we’re Daring and her faithful companion, Slow Poke! It’s my duty for me to find the answers, and yours to... act silly!”

The chained pony started to shift around on her seat, the hoofcuffs clanging quietly on their links.

All the while Rarity had been listening, and eventually turned to the pair. “Dears, do you really believe that now is the time to be arguing over a book? We have a changeling, that somehow got into the castle, possibly dangerous, sitting in front of us. It is our responsibility - neigh, our duty - to help Equestria by finding out why.”

The Princess was still watching, her face a stoic mask. While Twilight had been thinking, and Fluttershy fuming, and Rainbow fantasising, and Applejack puzzling, and Pinkie observing, and Rarity being slightly jingoistic...

The Princess just stood there.

She watched as they argued, and barely moved at all but to occasionally glance at the prisoner in the room.

“Girls,” she stated eventually, almost shouting to be heard over the noise. “We believe that you are all missing the point of you being here.”

“...Which is, Princess?”

“This changeling,” Princess Luna said, “is not only in the castle, but it also disguised as one of the Elements of Harmony. And not to stop there, it also waltzed in through the front gates, it also went in with the other Elements. You are here because you were there. You know what happened, and you would know roughly why a changeling would be disguised as Pinkie Pie.” The Princess turned to face Fluttershy, who was only now backing away from the table. “Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness. You were there to help this creature after the other changeling was discovered. You know what happened.”

Twilight coughed softly into a hoof. “Excuse me Princess, but if I might...” She walked over to the prisoner. “We can solve one part of this very simply,” she spoke to the Princess, before turning back to the white pony.

“Why are you disguised as Pinkie?”

All eyes were on the prisoner. The soft jangling of her chains was the only noise in the room. She sighed. “Because,” she said softly, “it’s the only thing I am.”

Twilight hmmmm’d. “Well, would you mind showing us your natural form, it would give us some clue as to what the situation is.

“This is me. I... I can’t change.”

“A changeling that can’t change? I’ve never heard of that before...” Twilight mused.

“It’s lying Twilight!” Rainbow shouted, only to be elbowed by her farmer friend.

“Ya know, I really don’t think it is. It would have little to no reason to lie right now, and at the same time it’s very easy to disprove any lie she does say.”

“That’s... very logical Applejack, thanks.” Twilight said, giving her friend a smile. The farmer simply tipped her hat in acknowledgement. “Actually,” Twilight continued, “if you’re not a changeling, that explains why you weren’t affected by the shield at all. It also becomes visible when reacting in close proximity to a changeling, so we should have known that you were one...” She trailed off slowly.

“Twilight? Whatever is wrong?” Rarity said, concerned.

“That’s just it though,” Twilight said, not even hearing her friend. “If the shield didn’t react, and you’re not a changeling... Then what are you?”

...This is it then...

“I’m...” She took a deep breath to try and settle her nerves, wiping away a cold sweat that had just sprung up on her brow. “I-I’m actually... a clone...”

The prisoner screwed her eyes up tight in anticipation. Seconds passed, and still nothing happened. After about ten seconds, she opened up her eyes again and looked at their reactions.

They were all staring at her.

Twilight was trying to catch flies apparently.

“Wait, wait, wait. That was you?! How could that possibly be you! I mean, sure, the thought crossed my mind, but...” She shook her head. “That shouldn’t be possible! I mean, you’re here... Ho-”

“Well, why don’t we just do the zap thing again? We did it to all the rest of them,” Applejack butted in. “It’ll stop the varmint from runnin’ amock.”

“Yeah, what AJ said. Zappo whappo. C’mon Twi’! Time’s a wastin’ here!” Rainbow said, skimming around barely off the floor.

Twilight bit her lip. “I mean... If you’re sure. I’ll use the return spell then, same as last time. Still, amazing that it got all the way here to Canterlot.” She shook her head in amazement. “Well, just an anomaly. I’ll get started...”

So... This is it...

I can almost say I’m relieved...

“Just let me remember it...”

No more running...

“Ahh, here we go!”

No more hiding...

The horn on Twilight’s head lit up, and started to glow purple.

No more Fancy Pants, or Rolling Stone, or...

Wait, I can’t leave them...

Fancy is still looking for me, and Rolling is captured. And it’s all my fault...

The glow grew stronger.

It can’t end like this. It just can’t. Not now, not ever.

No! It won’t!

“STOP!” two voices yelled out at exactly the same time. The first pony that yelled it surprised nopony, but the second...

“PINKIE?!”

A furious pink party pony was breathing heavily, barely contained anger struggling to the surface. “Don’t you see?!” she yelled. “You’re doing something wrong here! You can’t just kill her! She’s done nothing wrong!”

“Pinkie, I really don-” Twilight began, her horn still wreathed in a dull purple glow.

“No Twilight, just no. I understand this perfectly. She is me after all.” she said wryly.

“Look around you,” Pinkie said, walking towards the table slowly. “Why are you angry? What has it... Strand done here to make you angry? What has she done wrong?”

“Pinkie, she lied to us!” Rainbow yelled.

Pinkie turned to her prismatic friend. “Would you do anything different in her situation?! She’s had nowhere to go to, not really. Nopony to confide in, nopony to talk to properly, and nopony to comfort her. Would you still lie to the ponies that were going to react like this,” she gestured to the room, “if they found out what you were?! Really?!

“Do you want to know something funny?” she asked angrily. “I saw her once before, at Derpy’s house. And do you know what? I didn’t tell you. AND DO YOU KNOW WHY?!”

Pinkie turned to face the prisoner. “It was because she looked so afraid, and so lonely. I just wanted her to escape and be free. And because I knew that if I ended up telling everypony else then they would just react like this!

“And there’s something that you should know about that mirror pool as well,” Pinkie continued. “It’s in the rhyme, but I never told you it. It scares most ponies. The mirror pool? It doesn’t just reflect your appearance, it reflects everything. I mean that when I say it. It literally takes a snapshot of your soul, a bit for itself, and then recreates a living body out of what it gets. Of course, it can’t recreate it perfectly, and the clones don’t think properly, but strange things happen. And this pony? I can definitely say that it is one.”

Pinkie was livid, her face almost going from pink to red. Her hooves were flying in grand, extravagant gestures, and her whole body language screamed rage. Twilight and the others could only watch with stunned expressions. However, somehow Twilight’s horn was still glowing...

“I don’t care what you want to do to this pony. But you will not. And I mean, will not. Take away. Her. Life. Not after she’s accomplished so much. The others? I really don’t mind them, they were ignorant, they didn’t think properly. They vanished at a point in time where they were incapable of thought. But Strand is just as much of a pony as you or me. And you are going to deal with it.”

Pinkie walked around the table, towards the prisoner. The pink pony kept talking the whole time, hammering in her point. The prisoner could only watch, chained as she was, as the pony drew closer. A small part of her was scared, but the larger part was in simple awe at the display of anger and righteousness.

“And do you know what? I’m going to protect her until I drop. Do you know why? Because my name is Pinkamena Diane Pie, and I don’t like to see ponies sad!”

The slammed one hoof onto the table, while reaching the other towards the prisoner. Pinkie’s friends were watching with visible shock, even the Princess. And Twilight’s horn was still glowing, even if she didn’t realise it herself.

Pinkie Pie started walking closer to Twilight, who was backing up as far as she could, trying to escape the vengeful guardian that was her friend.

“And if you ever,” Pinkie said threateningly, “try to take her away. I don’t think we’ll be in for a fun time.”

She poked Twilight in the chest, and things happened all at once.

Twilight slid off the edge of the chair. Not much, but just enough to startle her...

...Into releasing the charge that had been building up in her horn the whole time. It rebounded off the roof, smashing into the table and leaving a scorch mark. It flew over the heads of the other ponies. And it bounced off the far wall. Straight into the face of the prisoner.

Then all was darkness.

“...Leave it?! No...going to do that...you thinking?!”

“...Danger, can’t just lea...No! Stop tryin...get her off the hook?!”

“But why not? She’s innoce...ing wrong! Why are you...trouble...”

“Darling, we just can’t do...Sorry, it just seem...”

“Yeah! She’s evi...Yes, we know how you feel about he...”

“Pinkie, I’m sorry...just can’t let her go...She’s a danger...whole of Ponyville! Damage every...last time? It could just as easily happen ag...”

“No! She’s just a normal...Why is she guil...You can’t keep thinking that! Stop being so...Take a look around you!”

“This is serious Pinkie! She’s a clone...any clone, your clone...sure that she won’t go crazy! Not enough evidence!”

“Fine, let me take care...Give her a chance...guarantee...Just please...You’ll be killing her...She needs help...save her...I can handle...integrate...don’t know anything about her! It’s so simple!”

“...Fine. We’ll give it a try. But I still don’t expect anything amazing. She’s a danger. We don’t know anything about these clones. They could easily go crazy and... Kill!”

“Yeah, rampaging evil. And only the amazing Rainb-”

“Not the time Dash. Pinkie, are you sure? You’ll be the pony responsible here!”

“I’m sure Twilight. I’ve never been so sure. It’s not even a decision. I’ll take care of everything. Leave it to me.”

“...Okay. Like I said, a try. Nothing more. That’s as far as I’m willing to go. As far as all of us are willing to go.”

“Thank you! I won’t let you down.”

“Please don’t, I want to see you be ri- Is she awake? Can she hear us?”

“I think so! Wait, she’s slipping again! Try and keep her with us!”

Silence. Then:

“...Ask you to leave...Patient needs space...”

“Buck...flatlining...Paddles!”

“Nurse! Help ove...”

“Losing her! Quickly! Everypony...”

“...Danger...Not lon...”

“...I d...May...So...”

“...”

She awoke to the sound of faint cheering.

Groggily opening her eyes, she tried to pull herself up only to find herself restrained by a hoof. A pink pony was above her, smiling down onto her face.

“Shhhh, don’t try to get up.” Pinkie said. “You’re safe now.”

She groaned and looked around for signs as to where she was... A white room? Yes, a white room, with beeping equipment and strange contraptions all around her. More than a few of them had wires leading into her body, with little bits of tape keeping them attached to her limbs.

And then she found the second surprise of the day. Her mane was pink again.

“Quick!” she gasped urgently. “Get me a mirror, anything!”

Pinkie nodded and came back a second later with a hoof mirror, placing above her face. She let out a sigh of relief, relaxing. It was completely over then. Her body was looking normal. The pink had returned, flowing into her mane and her coat. The blue had gone into her eyes, and the white and black had vanished.

Almost. There was one thing that remained. In her mane was a single pure white streak. But she could live with that. It was what made her, her. Some individuality added on the side.

Sighing in relief again, she whispered, “What about your friends? What did they think?”

Pinkie smiled. “They weren’t too happy, and Rainbow was downright annoyed, but I managed to bring them all around to your point of view. Our point of view. Well... Kinda. They’re still not happy, and there are going to be some... special condition.” She patted the hospitalised pony’s mane again. “But you’re alright now. You’re being kept in the hospital until further notice, just to make sure that you’re okay.”

The once-prisoner now-patient nodded. “Good, good...”

A thought popped into her head, and she almost leaped off the bed. “What about the changeling?! Is he alright?!”

“Changeling? What chan... ohhh, the one that was found at the gates?” The patient nodded, and Pinkie smiled. “Well, we - Twilight mainly - were trying to dredge up any information about you and somepony had the bright idea to talk to the changeling that was travelling with you. He’s in one of the interrogation rooms right now. If you want, you can probably talk to him later.”

“But... I need to see him. I need to ask him some questions. Just stuff I need to talk about. Can I go a-”

“Later,” Pinkie replied. “Right now you need some sleep. You deserve it. You’ve had a rough couple of days.”

“But you were the one that saved me!”

“Nope, that was just you. You got everypony there, you got yourself to Canterlot. You learned about the world. You kept yourself alive and relatively out of danger. You survived in a world the day you were brought into it. Don’t sell yourself short.”

“But that wasn’t me! That was other ponies, not me! I need to get...” She yawned loudly. “I need to get out of here...” Another yawn.

Pinkie shook her head. “You’re not going anywhere. Sleep tight, you’ll be out of here in no time.”

The (other) pink pony stood and walked away from her bed. A moment later there was a click, and all of the light disappeared. Only a sliver from the door remained. It almost got to her, but not quite. She was safe now. Darkness wasn’t scary any more.

“Oh, and one last thing,” she heard Pinkie say as the door opened again. “There’s a caravan in the park full of performing changelings that the guards found in a surprise sweep when they were investigating Stone. I don’t figure that you know anything about th...”

Only snores filled the room.

She didn’t dream. Not at all.

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Author's Notes:

Now, before we get started on the chapter, I wanted to say a few things.

1: This chapter wouldn't be where it was if it were not for the three brave people that volunteered at such short notice to be editors. They are Cold Spike, PhycoKrusk, and DayandNight67. YOU SHOULD WORSHIP THESE PEOPLE AS GOOOODDDDSS! MUAHAHAHAHA!

2: I've tried my utmost hardest to get this chapter to be the thing that people, myself included, always wanted. That's partly the reason that I dropped the fic for so long. Which brings me to my next point.

3: I dropped the ball. Hard. Seriously, I just had no drive to continue writing, and part of that was that I just wasn't sure how I could finish a story like this. It may sound cheesy as balls, but I owed it to myself to end the fic on a strong point, and I was actually hesitant to say goodbye to Strand. Maybe it's just me, or maybe EVERY author feels this, but I couldn't give the ending that special RING that I wanted it to have. All the other options I wrote just went down bad with me.

Oh, and before I forget.

4: You guys. Are. The. Greatest. I kid you not. The day after 'Too Many Pinkie Pies' came out I got the idea from this. I sent a message to my editor at the time, Piedol, who responded with immediate love for the idea. But by that time I'd already written the draft...
So all of a sudden I started posting. SUDDENLY FEATURED! You guys loved it! My mind was blown ALL over the keyboard. I'd never had this kind of support before. And I'm sorry if I'm ranting here, but the support I've had for this fic was ridiculous. I've seen about four different pieces of artwork (may not seem like much, but every single one of them is amazing in my books) as well as an offer to have it translated for all the french bronies.

I'm sorry if I've talked for too long here and taken you away for the long awaited ending, but I needed to say that.

Now, read on. And dear god do I hope it's everything you've been waiting for... ^.^

Two days had passed since Strand’s… incident, and already it was seeming to feel like a bad memory, or maybe even a dream. Her recovery had been swift, and all too soon she was out of the hospital and in the care of her new friends. She had been slightly surprised, however, to find that she still wasn’t identical to Pinkie. One perfect white streak had set itself down the side of her mane and her coat, going all the way to the end of her tail. She couldn’t see herself without straining, but as a method of identification it was unmatched.

And so she had spent a relatively uneventful two days pottering around Canterlot. Relatively being the key word. The thought of Rolling Stone and his band, as well as Octavia and her threat of the guards was still present. The Octavia part had managed to resolve itself naturally, with Fancy simply taking himself, Strand, as well as the Elements of Harmony to visit her. Much tea was had, names exchanged, and a threat of incarceration lifted. A good day in all.

The Stone matter had been slightly more difficult. Strand had tried to be as discreet around Fancy Pants as possible, as it wasn’t her place to tell anyone Stone’s secret, but she had managed to secure a private audience with the Princesses, mainly due to the influence of her new friends in high places. They had been understanding as the circumstances had allowed, and had organised a… diplomatic of meeting of sorts between the changelings and the ponies.

And so Strand found herself seated across the table from Stone, who was sitting in his mismatched pony form. He was also shaking, which for someone as suave as Stone was incredibly surprising.

“Strand, I… I don’t think that I can do this,” he said softly. “I’m just not ready for it.”

“You listen to me, Rolling Stone. Outside is a pony that you’ve told me is one of your oldest friends. A pony that has done more for you than anyone else. You can at the very least show him the respect of telling him the truth.”

Rolling Stone, the self proclaimed best travelling musician in the land, looked at Strand nervously. “But what will he think of me? When he finds out how I’ve been lying to him?”

Strand smiled. “If he’s as good of a friend as you say he is, then he’ll forgive you in a heartbeat, and accept you for who you are. I mean, he did it for me! You’re in almost the same situation.”

Stone sighed, looking around the caravan for support from his fellow musicians and performers. All of them were sitting as changelings, and all of them were watching their discussion intensely. They knew that the relations between ponies and changelings were, to put it simply, utterly nonexistent. For the two species to come together and become friends? Utterly unheard of. Especially with the mindset that many equestrians had that changelings were nothing more than mindless bugs, ruled over by a tyrannical overlord of a queen. The friendship of a (decently) well known travelling performer and one of the most influential ponies in the world would be groundbreaking.

The leader of the changeling band hung his head. “Well, let’s get this out of the way. You’ll be with me, right Strand?”

Strand smiled. “You’ll always have help from me, you know that. Especially after you helped me.”

Stone sighed again and rose from his seat. He walked towards the door, pausing momentarily before opening it and stepping outside. Strand followed him through.

On the other side was an assortment of ponies. Both of the royal diarchy stood next to Fancy Pants, who was watching with a dignified and restrained expression. Nearby stood the six Elements of Harmony, all in various stages of excitement and support.

Strand could see that Stone was starting to shake a little, and put a steadying hoof on his shoulder. He looked at her with gratitude, straightened his back, and firmly trotted over to the awaiting dignitaries.

Fancy’s expression of upper class dignity didn’t waver, even as his friend walked closer and closer.

“Hello there, Fancy Pants,” Stone said, putting on a facade of properness. “It is good to see you again.”

Fancy tilted his head in recognition. “As it is to see you.”

“So… I imagine that you know why you’re here today.”

“Yes,” was all Fancy said.

“And I also imagine that you now know that I’m a changeling, right?”

Fancy seemed to hesitate. “Yes, I know that too. And there’s only two things I wanted to say.”

“Oh?” Stone said, surprise in his voice.

“One,” Fancy started. “I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed that you would have lied to me for all these years. I thought that we were as thick as thieves, but then I find out that not only you, but the whole band are changelings? I can understand the political reasoning, but to keep a secret like that from your best friend for so many years…”

Rolling Stone’s ears drooped more and more as Fancy went on, his head lowering.

Fancy Pants shook his head. “And two.

“You’re an idiot.”

“Wha-?” Stone perked up, his expression one of surprise.

“To think that after all we’re gone through, those years that we spent travelling together, living together, performing together, to think that I’d just give you up? That is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard. And believe me, I’ve heard many idiotic things while living in Canterlot.” Fancy broke into a cheeky grin. “I mean, come on. Remember the playhouse in Stalliongrad? The fifth day that we were there?”

“Oh yeah, I remember that one…” Stone said wistfully. “Good times.”

“And all of the parasprites ate the hats off of the noble’s heads! Not sure how Copy managed to train them, but he did a sure-fire job of it!”

The two stallion’s laughter continued for a few more seconds before dying down. Finally, Fancy Pants said, “Stone, you’re my friend, and that’ll never change. Although, I don’t suppose that you could…” Fancy Pants petered out, leaving the question hanging.

Stone sighed. “Alright, just for you.” A burst of emerald green fire engulfed him, leaving nothing but a blackened looking bug-like creature in its place.

Silence engulfed the ponies, only to be broken by Fancy pants chuckling. “Damn, now you look even uglier than you did!”

“Oh, shove it up your plot, you stuffy old aristocrat!” Stone retorted.

“So, mind if I go to meet the band? Properly this time?” Fancy said, still laughing under his breath.

“Not at all,” Stone replied, leading his old companion away towards the caravan.

Strand stood in place nervously, not sure if the Princesses wanted something more from the meeting. That feeling melted away upon seeing the satisfied grins spreading across both deity's faces. It seemed they wanted old friendships to rekindle as well.

One week later.

A very nervous Strand could hear the voices of many, many ponies mixing together in a raucous cacophony of conversation. She couldn’t manage to pick out any particular words amongst the crowd, but the general gist of it was that ponies were curious. Very curious.

Of course, there was a reason for such an emotion. It was not every day that the humble town of Ponyville was called to attention at the town hall - although, considering the events that had happened in the past, that tradition was probably on the way out. And so it was that Strand found herself shaking slightly as she stood in one of the slight cavities behind the main stage, listening to the frenzy that the town had worked itself into.

Well, frenzy might have been a slight overstatement, but sometimes it just feels that way. Especially when you are the reason that a whole town finds itself watching an empty stage.

Strand jumped as a hoof rested itself on her shoulder. She managed to settle herself when she heard a calming voice, however.

“Five minutes,” the voice said soothingly. “It’ll be fine, just stick to the notes that I gave you.”

The (new) pink pony turned to find no one else but Twilight Sparkle looking at her, kindness in her eyes. Upon seeing Strand’s nervousness, she sighed. “I know it’s a little frightening,” she said, “I’ve had to go through this same kind of thing myself before. Although probably not under such… unique circumstances.” Twilight lifted her hoof and tapped it on the floor softly, looking like she wanted to say something else.

“Get ready, Strand, we’re about to start,” a voice called out from somewhere to their right. Strand gave Twilight a quick glance before turning to move away to the side of the stage. She had almost reached the edge of the curtain when Twilight called out.

“Strand! Wait a moment!”

Strand paused, looking over her shoulder. Twilight was looking at the ground shyly, tapped a hoof rapidly. “Just, before you go on stage. I wanted to say…” The purple librarian of Ponyville, and Element of Magic took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.

“I’m sorry for everything that I’ve put you through. I’m sorry that it was because of me that you were forced to go to Canterlot. And most of all, I’m sorry that because of the way I treated you, and the way that I chased you, you almost died.” Twilight almost looked like she was going to cry. “I just… I was just doing what I thought was right at the time. I thought that you were some evil thing that was trying to ruin Ponyville. I thought that we were in danger. I’m…” At this, a small drop of moisture did drop from Twilight’s face, plopping on the ground quietly.

Strand moved towards Twilight and slowly but surely swept her front hooves around the shaking pony, holding her tight. “Twilight,” she started, looking for the right words. “I forgive you. I forgave you long ago. In fact, the day I recovered I forgave you.”

Twilight lifted her head and looked at her in confusion. “You did?”

Strand nodded. “Of course I did. To be honest, if I hadn’t been running from you all, I wouldn’t have met the ponies I did, and things probably would have panned out a lot differently.”

Twilight nodded slowly. “That’s… true. I guess. But I still feel guilty for chasing you like some common thing from the Everfree. I never stopped to think that you were a real, living pony!”

“But you had no way of knowing! To you, I could just have been one of the…” Strand suppressed a slight shiver, “others. But that doesn’t matter.” Strand looked at Twilight, a firm expression on her face. “I never blamed any of you. I mean, if I did, I probably wouldn’t have even stayed to learn who you were, and to become friends. You and the other girls are pretty much the only friends I have! To think that I would blame you, let alone hate you, is stupid. You’re being stupid Twilight.”

Twilight let out a small giggle. “I guess that’s true. But I still had to apologise. I truly am sorry for what we did to you, what I did to you.”

“Okay, we’re ready. Come alongside the curtain and the Mayor will give you your cue.” The same voice from earlier called out.

Strand glanced at Twilight. “Looks like it’s my time. I’d better get over there. Will I see you in the crowd?”

Twilight nodded. “We’ll be cheering for you.”

The silence was a lot more intimidating than she had expected. No, not just the silence. The silence mixed with the expectation of many ponies as they watched her, waiting for her to say something.

Come on, she thought, look at your cards. Read what’s on them. Just breathe, and read.

Strand took a shuddering breath and looked up, staring into the crowd. She could see many unfamiliar faces. Some were looking at her with curiosity, some with boredom, and some with something border lining suspicion, as if they recognised her to not be the real Pinkie Pie.

Strand looked up slightly, locking her eyes on the white streak through her mane, the same one that she had seen upon waking up in the hospital in Canterlot after her ‘freedom’. If there was one thing to differentiate her and the ‘real’ Pinkie at a glance, it would probably be that streak.

Another breath and her eyes locking on the paper sitting on the stand in front of her. The words on them seemed to swim on the page, mixing together letters, and punctuation marks, and the occasional number.

She looked to her left. The Mayor was sitting, looking at her with an urging look in her eyes. She waved a hoof, beckoning her to start speaking. But Strand’s mouth was dry, and her tongue parched. She couldn’t read even if she tried.

She looked up at the crowd again. They were still looking at her, someone starting to become a bit more impatient. But she could spy the few odd ponies in the crowd, the ones that were giving her an unusual look. Encouragement. She could see Fancy Pants standing there in his fine suit, a stunning mare practically draped over his back with an excited glint in her eyes as she smiled up at Strand. She had only seen Fleur once or twice, but from those few run-ins, she had figured out that Fleur was one of the nicest ponies she had ever met.

Strand looked on. She could see Pinkie Pie, and Rarity, and Applejack. Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and - barely - Fluttershy. They all had huge smiles on their face, bar Rainbow who was waving a hoof in circles and mumbling something to Fluttershy, who was nodding slightly.

Near the edge of the crowd was a ragtag group of incredibly odd looking ponies in some of the strangest fashion she had ever seen. At the head of the pack was none other than Rolling Stone, the friendly leader of the Changeling travelling pack.

And all of them were smiling at her.

A huge surge of warmth shot through Strand, putting a slight smile on her face. She looked at the notes in front of her, and suddenly they didn’t seem so daunting anymore. She shuffled the front page and started to read.

“Good morning Ponyville. My name is Strand, and I am new to this town.” A murmur of laughter ran through the crowd at the incredibly formal sounding beginning.

She continued. “As many of you know, there was an incident just over a week ago involving clones of one of your townsfolk, a baker at Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie.” Some of the crowd nodded in agreement, while some seemed to understand where this was going.

“I was one of those clones,” Strand continued. “Shortly after the seemingly last clone was dispatched by none other than your own Twilight Sparkle in a great display of problem solving,” she looked up to see a few of the ponies around the aforementioned pony looking at her, while Twilight blushed, “I boarded a train to Canterlot.”

“Upon reaching the city, I was taken in a shown around the city by none other than Fancy Pants, who was an incredibly generous host, and completely understanding.” What she didn’t mention was that Fancy Pants hadn’t even known she was a clone.

“After three days, I was taken to meet the Princesses in their castle. There, an agreement was made, and as a part of that I am to live and work in Ponyville. The Princesses decided that it was for the best that you all know what happened with the clones, and me, so they talked to the Mayor and scheduled this meeting.”

Strand turned to the last page in her small leaflet. “I hope that in the future, I can get to know you all better, and that you will come to accept me as a Ponyvillian… Ponyvillen… Pony… As someone that lives alongside you.”

Strand stepped back from the podium, and the Mayor stepped up to take her place.
“And now,” the Mayor began, “please give Strand a warm welcome to her new life in Ponyville!”
The sound of stomping hooves and warm cheering lit up Strand’s heart, making her grin increase in size. In the far distance she could see her doppelgänger leap into the air and make some sort of exclamation, to which half the crowd groaned in amusement.

As Pinkie shot off away from the crowd, confetti and streamers blowing into the air, Strand could faintly make out a cry of, “A PARTY!”

The sun had long since set, but the festivities had yet to die down. Music blared from the live ragtag performers. A few hours earlier, they had pulled up their huge caravan next to an open area in the town, and unloaded an utterly ridiculous amount of instrument and equipment, all under the watchful eye of Rolling Stone.

The glittering light of the bonfire in the centre of the square was offset by the dull twinkling of the stars overhead, and the slightly more bright lights of the hanging lanterns that were strung above street level between the houses. How they had all been set up at short notice was still a mystery, but as with most things that involve Pinkie, it was better not to ask.

Most of the town was still up and partying, some having gone back home to put their children to bed. That didn’t stop a huge amount of ponies from laughing and yelling and dancing along to the music. Strand had even spied an ancient looking green pony, missing almost all of her teeth and only having a few white hairs, doing a fast paced jig with a group of young looking fillies and colts, all of which looked like they were having the time of their lives.

Not everyone was into the dancing, however. Towards the edge of the square, Strand could make out Fluttershy and Fleur, both sitting, surrounded by curious woodland critters, both with huge smiles on their faces, and both having a very animated discussion. They quickly burst into laughter as one of the bunnies around them tried to show off to his friends, but instead landed on his head.

Strand looked further, seeing Fancy Pants and Rarity chatting about the finer points of what she could only imagine to be high-society. Both were looking happy and content just talking.
Towards the dancers, Strand could see Pinkie and Rainbow Dash, and even Applejack, all in an incredibly fast paced dancing competition. Rainbow was doing some sort of breakdance; Applejack was doing something approaching a cross between a square dance and a jig, while Pinkie was…

Well. She was doing something. If it could be thought of as dancing, then that was fine. Strand could make neither heads nor tails of it.

And, of course, overseeing all of this was the beaming Rolling Stone. It was understandable that the changeling in disguise loved to see ponies having a great time, but this was the expression of a pony that could die at that very instant, and wouldn’t have cared, because they would have died happy. Considering how often he travelled the world – well, according to the stories he told her, at least – he was probably happy to be back in the land he called home, performing for the ponies he called friends, and doing what he loved.

All of the other disguised changelings looked like they were having a great time, and someone of the actual performers among them were mingling with the audience. Some blowing fire, some juggling, and some doing the odd magic trick or too. Heck, some were just talking. The town knew who, and what, they were anyway, so there was no nervousness here. Everyone was just being… themselves.

Of course, the reveal of the changeling hadn’t gone as smoothly as they had all hoped. Certain townsfolk had been slightly resistant to the idea of changelings among them. They all understood in the end, of course, but there is a fine line between logic and emotion. However, after the town had gotten over their initial resistance, the two species had gotten along as any one pony would with another.

And, of course, there was the run-in with Octavia. The grey mare was still slightly angry, and more than a bit suspicious, but a talk with the Princesses had flattened things all out. Besides, she got to meet with the real Pinkie at the same time, so everyone was settled.

Strand was interrupted from her reverie by Twilight tapping her again. The purple unicorn was looking at her with concern in her eyes. “Aren’t you going to get in the party?”

“No,” Strand said, “I think I prefer just to watch and see what happens. Noise was never really my thing, you know?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, I know that feeling. Give me a good book any day over a loud and rambunctious party.” She shook her head. “That wasn’t the reason I wanted to talk to you, though. I think I made a bit of a breakthrough with the cause of all of this!”

Strand’s ears perked up. “Really? So you made progress on that idea you had?”

“Of course,” Twilight scoffed sarcastically. “That idea earlier this week was only a rough one. I’ve done a lot more research on the mirror pool since then, and I think I came up with an idea.

“From the scriptures, the pool was based around the desire for something. I managed to copy down Pinkie’s rhyme, and it went along the lines of,

‘Where the brambles are thickest,
There you will find,” yadda yadda yadda…
‘And into her own reflection she stared,
Yearning for one whose reflection she shared,’

“I ignored the rest for my theory, as it seems to be for show, but from what I can see the mirror pool is all about a single yearning idea. I did some more research, and I came up with something slightly disturbing. It uses soul magic to literally take an imprint of a pony’s soul, and then pastes a one dimensional image of a yearning on top of that!

“The problem with this kind of magic, however, is that the soul starts to deteriorate after a short amount of time. I saw this in the other clones. They broke down and lost focus of the imprinted desire, become slightly haywire.” Twilight narrowed her eyes and poked a hoof at Strand’s face. “Something about you however,” Twilight said slowly. “Something happened, and it broke that mould. You still had that imprinted desire, but it was shattered in some way. I theorised that because Pinkie had based all of the clones off of a single original, they were all linked to that first one. And I think you were that first one.

“Sending the others back caused a magical resonance throughout the mirror pool, as it tried to compensate for the linkage of the souls that it had imprinted. It couldn’t properly put the others away until you were there, too, because you were the master copy… in a way. While, according to Pinkie, she had still created some others, there was a big enough whiplash that a huge quantity disappearing at once caused the mirror pool try to regain some stability. It wanted to have all of the imprinted souls back. It wanted you. The pool behaved in a way almost akin to that of a truly sentient being, and that was... slightly disturbing.”

Twilight paused for breath. “From what I saw, and heard, you were losing your coat colour, and Pinkie’s mark. All of the identity that the soul was giving you was disappearing away to the pool. To be honest, I’m surprised that you didn’t disappear completely. It’s truly remarkable, and I’ve never heard of anything like this happening.”

Something stuck in Strand’s mind. “But what about when I woke up in the hospital?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I was getting to that. From what I’ve concluded so far, I think you… Well, how to put this. I think you grew your own soul. Wait, grew?” Twilight rubbed a hoof against her cheek. “There’s got to be a better phrasing. Spawned? Stole? No, not at all…”

Strand watched as Twilight mumbled to herself. “Uhh, Twilight? You there?”

“Hmm… no, can’t say that. That’d be a paradox for the Dark Souls…”

“Twilight!”

“THE DARKSIGN IS AMONG US!” Twilight yelled, startled slightly. Strand watched in concern.

“Oh, sorry there,” Twilight said. “Was thinking of something else.”

Strand gave her a deadpan look. “You were saying about my soul?”

“Oh, of course. Well, the blast I hit you with in the interrogation chamber was the same one that was designed to send the imprinted souls back to the pool.” Twilight paused. “And that’s exactly what I think it did.”

Strand froze. “Wait, what?”

Twilight sighed. “That’s what I’ve concluded with the evidence so far. It seems that the soul you had was banished to the pool. But you already had something else. You’d made your own soul. You literally turned yourself into a separate entity from Pinkie, soul and everything. I don’t know how it happened, as it seems to break every rule of soul magic, but it did.”

Strand grinned softly. “Seems that the little bit of Pinkie that I had in me payed off.”

“Huh?” Twilight said. “What do you mean?”

“From what I’ve seen, you don’t question Pinkie. If something impossibly happens, just go with it, don’t ask questions. Especially if it ends for the better.”

Twilight groaned. “Not this again. I’ve already had enough trouble trying to explain Pinkie Pie, I don’t need more!” Twilight stamped a hoof on the ground. “I still won’t give up! I will explain how this happened!”

Strand grinned. “I wouldn’t expect any less.”

Twilight sighed and sat down on a nearby bench. “I shouldn’t be trying to disprove theories anyway. You survived, and you’re here, so I guess that’s all that matters now.” A small smile spread slowly across Twilight’s face as she watched all of her friends having what looked like the times of their lives. That grin slowly but surely turned cheeky. “How about we join them? Can’t have our friends having all of the fun, can we now?”

Strand’s breath caught slightly at that. Our friends. Yeah, I think I can get used to hearing that a bit more.

She nodded to the unicorn, who grabbed one of Strand’s hooves and pulled her into the fray of dancing ponies.

As Strand looked onto the whirling blurs of colours and ponies, all of them laughing, Strand realised something. She might have been in Ponyville for the last week or so, but it was only now that she was truly feeling home.

The End

Her Own Pony

by Jorofrarie

Fun

Joy

Hope

Giggle

Seek

Day One: Sounds

Day Two: Showtime

Day Three: Paint the Scene

Deadline

Inside

Optimist

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