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// Chapter Three: Manehattan, Manehattan 
// Story: The Lost Pie 
// by Crescent Cloud 
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So, I was off on the train to the big city, the biggest in Equestria, in fact. That’s one reason I chose to go there – I figured, with that many ponies all in one place, with so many different shapes and sizes and colors hurrying around all the time, I could blend in much better. Plus, it helped that few ponies knew Pinkie there, so I wouldn’t run as high a risk of being recognized. Still, I needed to be careful not to draw too much attention, because if somepony caught on that Pinkie Pie is in two places at once and I would have been discovered. 
When I arrived, I was instantly enamored with the city. In fact, that’s putting it mildly - I was in love with it. I could feel a primal Pinkie instinct to get excited as I took in the stimulation around me. I even came close to doing a few Pinkie bunny hops. There were buildings everywhere, like a great big metal and concrete forest, and countless images, like a huge picture of Sapphire Shores on the side of a building and one of Countess Coloratura on another. And the ponies – there were ponies everywhere! I knew right away that I would love it in Manehattan.
Of course, there was a bit of a problem: even if most ponies in Manehattan didn’t know it, I looked like another pony. I decided that I would have to somehow distinguish myself physically from Pinkie Pie by getting a makeover. That led me to the realization that I had no bits. I sat down for a minute or two in disappointment, but then I remembered something about Pinkie, and on a hunch, I reached up into my mane. Sure enough, as if by magic, I pulled out a handful of bits, as well as a comb, some candy, a few empty balloons, and a picture of Gummy.
I started looking around for a salon or barbershop that could give me a manecut and a tail job to make me look like something other than the supreme frizz and chaotic puffiness that is the Pinkie signature style. I thought I might also get some accessories to further complete my new appearance. Finding a mane-cutting place was rather easy in Manehattan. When I emerged, I was a new pony, or at least I started to feel like it, and it felt fantastic!
I was now sporting a shorter, more controlled mane style, with tail to match, of course. It was not, mind you, simply flattened out like Pinkamina hair, no, it was wavier, like a pink river flowing out of my head. I loved it the moment I saw it in the mirror. You see, I didn’t have any specific instructions for the stylist pony. I just told her to give me something different, but that would work for me, trusting her to judge well in that regard. It paid off, of course, because she did a better job than I could have expected. I also picked up some sunglasses and I found a dress that I couldn’t resist. It was a lovely cerulean, and quite simple – in fact, it looked a lot like the grey dress my - I mean Pinkie’s – sister Maud wears. 
So, dressed up and newly styled, and finally less conspicuous, I set out to find my way in the city. Of course, I hadn’t thought it through completely yet, and once I realized that I would have to find a job and a place to live, it suddenly hit me how hard this might be. For just a moment, my mind turned back to the pond, and the thought that maybe I should have gone back after all. But I put that out of my mind and kept looking and thinking of what I could do. 
Then something else hit me: my cutie mark. It was still Pinkie’s same balloon trio, and I realized that I couldn’t have the same cutie mark as her. But how does a pony change a cutie mark? All my knowledge and memories of Twilight, the CMC’s, and any other incidents involving how cutie marks work told me one thing was sure: no pony can change their cutie mark. For now, not knowing what else to do, I decided to keep it covered as much as possible under my dress. Otherwise, my thought was to use makeup and body paint to create a new mark. But then, what would my new, self-chosen mark be?