//------------------------------//
// Episode 3: One of a Kind 
// Story: EoH Evolution: Season 3 
// by Bahamut0 
//------------------------------//

Akage took a deep breath as he sat down at the breakfast table. A knowing smile on his face as he got a bowl of cereal ready. It wasn't for him. "Three. Two. One." A pink blur came at Akage from his side, and pinned him to the ground.

"Morning Akage!" Pinkie Pie chirped as she nuzzled against the young ninja. "Can you guess why I'm so happy this morning? Can ya? Can ya?"  Pinkie had gotten up off of Akage, and was bouncing in place.

Akage blinked. "Well it's pretty hard to tell. You're usually pretty happy. But today you're almost LITERALLY radiating an aura of pure joy from your body. I'd say it's because you have a lot of fun things planned with your friends?" This prompted a happy nod from Pinkie Pie. "Eat first. Fun isn't fun when it's on an empty stomach." Akage's smile shrank a little. "My mom always told me that before I'd run off and go insect hunting."

Heeding Akage's words, Pinkie Pie scarfed down the bowl of cereal and zipped off to whatever she had planned for the day. However, things didn't quite go as planned. Whenever Pinkie Pie finished hanging out with one of her friends, another would just be finishing up with their own fun. 

Pinkie Pie sighed as she lamented over the fun times she'd missed. "I wish there was a way to make more than one of me. I'd ask Akage, but shadow clones aren't a real ninja move. All they are is just afterimages." It was then that Pinkie remembered a very old piece of information. "Wait! There IS a way!" Pinkie dashed over to a hidden pool, and stared at her reflection. Pinkie Pie uttered an odd phrase, and a duplicate Pinkie emerged from her reflection! 

"This is perfect!" Pinkie Pie cheered as she hugged her duplicate! "I'll never have to miss out on anything fun with my friends ever again!" It seemed like things would work out, but the plan didn't last long. Namely because Pinkie Pie had a lot of friends. So many friends required many duplicates. Needless to say, it got out of control really fast.

Akage was humming to himself as he cleaned a root beer mug, but stopped when he heard a faint rumbling sound. "That. . . doesn't sound good." Akage Strider was a ninja. His training had taught him to be adaptable. But the sight before him was something the young ninja could not believe. Akage bore witness to a stampede of Pinkie Pies running through Unityville! "What in Celestia and Luna's names happened?!" 

The element of levity managed to catch Twilight Sparkle panicking at the current situation. She had caught what appeared to be another Pinkie Pie. "They're everywhere!" Twilight exclaimed! "There's no way all of them can be the real one! We can't just let them run wild! We need to find the real one! Think you could help?"

Akage nodded. "Sure thing." The young ninja set to work striking at any Pinkie Pie clones he could find. All of them quite surprised when he scooped them up and teleported them to the town hall in the puff of a smoke bomb! However, he was only one guy. Meaning catching them all himself wasn't the most attainable of goals to accomplish in a quick manner. So Twilight poste a poster advertising a test to see which Pinkie Pie was, well, the pinkiest. The town hall was packed full of Pinkie Pies not a few minutes later.

"Alright. Here's the test." Twilight said as she unveiled a wall with paint on it! "The one who can watch this paint until it dries completely is the true Pinkie Pie!" And with that, the test began. Many of the Pinkie clones couldn't keep still, and got bored. Twilight zapped the clones with her magic! Returning to the Mirror Pool!

Akage watched as the mob of Pinkie Pies before him began to thin out. Though it only faintly showed on his face, he worried for the real Pinkie Pie. She had grown on him a lot. And with how excitable she was liable not to stay still for too long. The thought of never hearing her laugh or smile was something that chilled Akage to his bones. And so, he relied on another aspect of his training. The spiritual side. Closing his eyes, Akage focused on what he could see with his heart. 

Akage saw that almost every Pinkie clone had joy in their heart. However, there was one exception. Almost as if she was the center of it all, a lone Pinkie was radiating sadness. Akage opened his eyes, and a small smile crept onto his face. "Twilight. Dial back the banishing for a moment." Akage walked through the remainder of the Pinkie Pie herd, and stopped when he reached the center. 

"Hey there. Why so sad?" Akage asked in a kind tone. Taking a knee so that he was at a more even level with the Pinkie Pie in front of him. "Everyone knows that Pinkie Pie always has a bright smile on her face."

"Y-Yeah." Pinkie Pie said shakily. "But everyone also knows that the real Pinkie Pie always wants to make her friends happy. But I haven't done that!" Pinkie Pie began to tear up. "I couldn't be everywhere at once to make them smile, or share the fun they were having! And now, I don't know if I'm the real one or not! All of us have the same face, same laugh, and same smile!"

Akage put his hands on Pinkie Pie's shoulders. "That's not true. Everyone has their own smile." Akage said. "One that only their heart can make, and one that only you can see." Hearing this made Pinkie perk up a bit. "And you've got a smile that I never see in any of these duplicates. No matter how many you make, there really is only one Pinkie Pie. Would you please show me that smile?" A full smile was on Akage's face. The brightest anyone had ever seen. "You look much prettier with it on your face." Pinkie Pie was crying, but she had a genuine smile on her face. "There's the Pinkie Pie I love."

Pinkie Pie, in all her years of surprise parties, was now utterly shocked when Akage kissed her on the lips. Twilight 'awwed' at the sweet moment before dispatching the remaining duplicates to the Mirror Pool. The newly formed couple walking out with Akage giving Pinkie Pie a ride on his shoulders. "So. Ice cream?"

"Aww~! So sweet of you! You know me so well!" Pinkie Pie said with a giggle! "PINKAGE FOR LIFE!"