//------------------------------// // Pinklette: War Journal // Story: Friendship is Shining: Multi-Pink-Cation Problems // by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof //------------------------------// Behind the display case, one Pinklette -- known to the others as Corporal Strawberry Frosting -- pulled out a battered old notebook and a pen that had chew marks all over it. Opening the notebook, the corporal flipped through the pages until reaching an empty one. Uncapping the pen, she began to write. Journal entry 3-X-$-Peanut-Butter I fear that we have been forgotten, or left for dead. It has been a nearly a week since Captain Rutabaga was killed in action, and I don't even remember when we last got orders from Command. Morale among the mares is low. Pausing, she looked at the other mares with her. Her gaze focused on one that was pulling her helmet over her eyes, tears running down her cheeks. Private Fudge has been crying a lot lately, and I fear that she may soon have a complete breakdown. I only hope that we get help before she does something too drastic. Corporal Frosting looked at one of the others, who was even now rising up to throw another cake at their enemies. Sergeant Sorbet continues to fight, and tries to keep morale up. Unfortunately, it seems to be a losing battle. As nice as Sarge may be, she has no experience as a leader, especially in battle. She tries her best, bless her hear, but at the end of it all, she is no Captain Rutabaga. An squeak drew her attention from the journal. Looking up, she stared into the wide, purple eyes of the bound, gray, earth filly. The question of what to do with our prisoner remains. None of us want to risk letting her go, but we aren't really able to keep her confined either. Perhaps if we could find a way to create a temporary ceasefire, we could arrange a pris-- The rest of what was going to be written was lost in a scrape of the pen across the paper as Corporal Strawberry Frost was struck by a blast of blue magic. She had just enough time to notice none of the other Pinklettes were around before she disappeared into a puff of pink smoke. Spike came out of the kitchen first, pushing the swinging door open and holding one. Rarity followed after, horn still glowing faintly. Wiping the fresh tears from her eyes, she looked around. "Well, that takes care of one side." Running over to the bound filly, Spike worked quickly to free her. First, he tried to simply untie them, but they were very Pinkie Pie style knots, which made it not only nearly impossible to untie, but seemed to get more complicated every time he tried. So instead, he went with a quick and simple method he knew: using his claws, the young dragon sliced through the ropes, cutting the filly free. As soon as she was loose, the grey filly threw her forelegs around Spike and began kissing him on the cheek. "Thank you!" Kiss. "Thank you!" Kiss. "Thank you!" Kiss. At the first kiss, Spike froze in shock and surprise. While it was not a kiss on the lips, or motivated purely by romantic interest, it was the first kiss he had gotten that was not about familial affection. It felt like their was a small electric tingle of pleasure each time those lips touched his cheek, going straight to his brain and making him forget about whatever it was he had been thinking about prior. His cheeks turned bright red as he grinned. "No problem," he chuckled out. "Excuse me, Silver Spoon," Rarity said to the filly as she stepped forward. "Am I correct in deducing that, since you are here, the other captured filly is Diamond Tiara?" "Yes ma'am," the filly -- Silver Spoon -- said as she pulled away from Spike, looking at Rarity fully. Rarity's eyes narrowed as her lips pursed. She stayed like that for a while, studying Silver until the filly began to squirm under the grown mare's gaze. "Spike?" Rarity said sweetly as she turned her attention to the young dragon. "Would you please escort young Ms. Spoon out while I try to think of a plan for the remaining doppelgangers?" The familiar voice calling his name managed to shake Spike out of his stupor. He gave a shake of his head, the blush quickly fading, then gave a nod. "Sure," the young dragon answered. He turned to Silver Spoon. "Come on." He then led the filly back through the kitchen and out the back door of the bakery. Once the two had left the dining room, Rarity started humming to herself. Lifting one of her hooves, she checked the smooth and well polished surface, glossy enough that she could practically see herself in it. Maybe when this was all over, she would treat Pinkie to a spa day. Although the pink mare tended to be more relaxed than most, even she did get some stress from time to time. Plus, Pinkie did enjoy spending time with friends -- which was practically every pony in town according to her -- so it would give her a chance to hang out with Aloe and Lotus. Rarity let out a sigh. She supposed she should try and deal with the remaining Pinkie clones and free Diamond Tiara. Even if the filly was a bit of a brat that tended to pick on Sweetie Belle and her friends, and had a rather unpleasant -- to put it politely -- mother, leaving the filly bound and gagged in terror hardly seemed like proper punishment. Admittedly, a part of Rarity did enjoy it, seeing it as the filly getting some of what she deserves for how she acted, but it was not right, and hardly lady-like to let somepony suffer when something could be done about it. Perhaps she could use what the clones in the kitchen had made to assist her. Turning back toward the kitchen, her horn once more lit up as she grabbed the pan and brought it over to her. Inside were six freshly baked muffins. From what Rarity could see, they seemed to have some sort of nut(s) mixed into them. She could not tell more specifically without trying them. Rarity knew exactly what to do with them. "Oh, no!" she cried out, intentionally being as dramatically over the top as she could manage. "An entire tray of muffins hot and fresh from the oven, and I couldn't possibly eat them all by myself." She threw her head back, placing the back of her hoof against her forehead. "Wherever shall I find somepony to help me eat them?!" "I can help!" a grey pegasus with blond mane and skewed golden eyes offered. Rarity yelped out in surprise at the sight of the new arrival, losing her magical grip on the pan. Fortunately, the pegasus mare was able to catch it in her mouth before it hit the floor. "Derpy?" Rarity asked. "Where did you come from?" "Outside," Derpy tried to answer while holding the tin, causing it to come out more like, "vv-fvv." As she took the tin back in her magic, a new idea started to form. "Derpy, darling? How would you like to help me and get two muffins for it?" "Oh boy!" the pegasus cheered, wings fluttering as she hopped in place. "What do you need me to do?" Pulling two of the muffins from the tray, Rarity held them out to Derpy, and said, "Once I have the Pinkie clones distracted, I want you to take Diamond Tiara and fly her out of here. Understood?" This got a nod so enthusiastic, that Rarity was worried her friend would shake her eyes right out of their sockets (they were kind of rattling around there). "Very well." Rarity held the muffins out further. "Take these and be ready. As soon as the clones start eating, get Tiara and go." After giving a salute, Derpy took the muffins and stuck them into her bag. "Ready when you are." Rarity gave a nod and turned toward the overturned tables. Her horn continued to glow, but the blue aura around the tin disappeared as she shifted the spell she was focusing on. "Come on, now," she called out. "I'm sure you would all love to have a nice, yummy, nutty muffin, wouldn't you?" Slowly, the Pinkie clones peaked out from their hiding place, looking at Rarity and the muffin tin in her hoof. After getting in a huddle and whispering with each other -- sometimes, one of them poking up and looking at her suspiciously before resuming -- the group came out from behind the tables and made their way over to Rarity. As soon as they did, Derpy flew up over them and down where they had come from. There were several loud thuds, followed by a squeal. "Sorry!" Derpy called out. "Now come on. I'm going to get you out of here." With Diamond Tiara in her grip, the pegasus tried to take off again. She did not quite lift the filly high enough, causing her to bang into one of the table edges. "Sorry." Flapping her wings faster and harder, Derpy and Diamond climbed up higher. Once they were well in the air, she started for the doorway. As they went, they listed to the side, smacking into one of the display shelves. "Sorry," Derpy said as Diamond cried out. The two then headed for the doorway to the kitchen, coming in too high and causing Diamond to hit the molding. "Sorry." Getting lower, Derpy flew through the kitchen doors. There was another bang, shortly followed by another, "sorry!" Rarity had to bite her lip. The schadenfreude of it was not intentional on her part, but that did not mean she was going to pass up the opportunity to enjoy it. As for the Pinkie clones, however, either none of them noticed or -- more likely -- simply no longer cared. None of them bothered to even look up at the gray pegasus flying off with the bound filly, much less say anything about it. With Spike and the fillies gone, and the Pinkie clones preoccupied with their muffins, Rarity had nothing to distract her from what she needed to do. Closing her eyes, she took a slow, deep breath, and once again reminded herself that none of these were actually Pinkie. In fact, they were not actually real ponies, and their being around put the real Pinkie's life at risk. They at least deserved to enjoy their last meal though. Once they had finished their muffins, Rarity unleashed the built up magic, giving four quick blasts of the discorporation spell. As soon as she was done, Rarity turned away, pulling her eyes tight and trying not to hear the popping noises. Despite her efforts, she heard each one, and could not help but see her poor friend exploding into a shower of confetti and magic. Rarity was very glad she had not eaten any of the muffins: she was pretty sure she would not have been able to keep it down.