"Pinkamena? What happened?" Two purple eyes blocked Pinkamena's line of vision and were the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes. Pinkamena simply looked at Twilight and ran off without saying a word.
"Pinkamena! Wait!" the unicorn called from behind her, though she didn't turn or slow down. Pinkamena kept running. One word kept repeating in her mind.
Unbalance. Unbalance. Unbalance.
The unbalance of the two dimensions would surely destroy the two party ponies if tons of ponies found out the truth to Pinkamena. Using this fact in her mind, the mare ran quickly and found Sugarcube Corner nearly immediately. Of course, she'd memorized its location and appearance. However, she still found herself staring in awe at the bakery she used to love so much, until it was burned to the ground and the war began.
Holding back the tears of nostalgia, Pinkamena peeked in a window to make sure the Cakes weren't there, and hurried in and up the stairs. The Cakes, her abusive caretakers in a time past, in a dimension past. I hope these Cakes are a lot nicer than the ones I knew, Pinkamena thought as she found Pinkie's room and noted the mane curler on the dresser. Snatching it up in a hoof, she looked at herself in the mirror, inspecting each and every aspect of her appearance that was different than she imagined this dimension's Pinkie Pie to be.
Dust and dirt on her face, a tangled mane, scars and cuts on her arms and legs. A bruise in her shoulder. Pinkamena didn't remember how any of the scars had gotten there, though she was pretty sure the bruise was from passing out in front of Twilight.
Twilight. Twilight's secret! Wasn't she going to tell me something? Pinkamena realized. Buck! I should have stayed! She had run off against her better judgement, but her thoughts and faint memories of unbalanced dimensions were mostly responsible. Oh well, she could always ask Twilight later at--wherever it was Twilight stayed at. Everything in this universe was so new to Pinkamena, she didn't really know much, and felt like a filly for it.
Thoughts swirled in her mind as Pinkamena's eyes refocused to her mirror image. Using her hoof not holding the curler, she tried to pull out the knots in her mane, though it was difficult with hooves. She was rather used to her mane hanging down by her face, and was reluctant to give it up. It matched her depressed emotion rather well.
There was no other choice. The pink pony took one lock of hair in a dirtied hoof and wrapped it around the curler.
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Pinkamena looked sadly at her reflection. Her mane now curled above her head in a very cheerful manner, and her tail was curled in the same way.
Now, for that dirt and those scars. She trotted into the bathroom, where she filled the sink with clean water and dunked her head in, not hesitating a moment. Brr! That is some cold water! Pinkamena quickly pulled her head out from the sink, her cuts burning with the freezing water. The dirt had cleared off, though, and her scars were less painful once the cold wore off, which it quickly did.
Though there were disadvantages. Scars now showed better as dark slashes against her bright pink coat. Especially that bruise. Sighing, Pinkamena splashed the cold water onto her back and legs, then searched the cabinets for something to add to her disguise.
The first thing she pulled out was a bottle of chocolate syrup. She looked at it in disgust. Syrup? Who puts syrup in a bathroom? Besides, the sugar was absolutely unbearable! Sweet was a taste Pinkamena abhorred, a delicacy from early war-times and before. The near apocalypse they lived in now had no use for it.
No, Pinkamena thought to herself. You don't live in those times anymore, nor in that dimension. Start thinking cheerful. Ugh. Cheerful. It would be rather difficult.
The second try, she got a capsule of something called 'Pinkish'. Upon opening the lid, she found that it had a tiny mirror and brush, and a pink circle the same color as her coat. She picked up the brush, which had a bit of that pink stuff on it. It seemed just like colored dust to Pinkamena, though she suspected it would help.
How do I use this thing? Pinkamena was wondering just as a loud noise made her jump. The door to Pinkie's--no, her room--smashed against the inner wall, and a unicorn galloped in.
"Pinkamena! You--" Twilight stopped in surprise to see Pinkamena holding Pinkish brand blush in her hoof. Her mane had also been curled! Twilight, however, could tell that it wasn't Pinkie and was indeed Pinkamena by noting the slight darkness in Pinkamena's blue eyes.
"Oh! Twilight! I was just, uh..." Pinkamena stammered, dropping Pinkish onto the floor, where it clattered and was still.
"A disguise! This is ingenious!" Twilight exclaimed, using her signature 'long words'. "Here, let me give you a hoof with that. You're trying to prevent the portals ripping, aren't you?" Twilight began to drone on about something Pinkamena didn't give a buck about as the unicorn levitated the blush back up and used the brush to dab on Pinkamena's scars.
Pinkamena could only feel grateful for Twilight's help, and that she didn't have to explain.
So this is what it's like to have friends! Pinkamena thought, not noticing the pain of the blush as she smiled.