//------------------------------// // Day Three, Afternoon: A Shared Romance // Story: The Golden Age of Apocalypse, Book II: Synchronicity // by Shinzakura //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash found herself at Ponyville General Hospital standing next to Divine. The two had just departed the room where the two guards had been placed and the look on the stallion’s face was somewhere between relief and concern. “Rainbow, I owe you one,” he told her. “If you hadn’t come across Quickstrike and Forward Thrust in time, who knows what condition they’d be in.” “Hey, just doing my job,” she replied with a shrug. “Anyway, did they say what happened?” “Yeah, and I’m both worried and not worried at the same time, if that makes sense.” Seeing her confusion, Divine explained. “After they gave the description, I went to look up what it was, and well, it’s not a monster, not really. Do you know what the Bete Goson is?” “The what?” “Yeah, I kinda expected that response. Do you know what an Ursa is?” “Given that they kinda tore up the town a few years back until your fillyfriend magicked one back into the forest, yeah, I’m kinda familiar with them.” Divine shrugged off the remark; he really didn’t feel up to bantering right now, given the potential issue now on his hooves. “Okay, imagine the Ursa if it were upright, knew martial arts like turf-fu and wing chun, and had a strange fixation on attacking creatures it thought were a threat to it as if it was a minotaur with a chip on his shoulder on a really bad day.” Rainbow blinked for a second as she processed that. “Oh, shit. How much danger are we talking?” “Both lots – and none at the same time,” Divine explained. “Based on what I read up on it, as long as you don’t present a threat to it, it just ignores you. But the moment it thinks you are one, it’s going to pummel you into the ground and if it thinks you’re a real danger, it could potentially kill you.” He frowned and said, “Back when I was just a coronet, I worked for a lieutenant named Wallburst who was a huge, built-like-Big Mac sorta stallion. He ended up getting his back broken and a permanent limp, because he went hoof-to-paw with a Goson. Did it to save some foolish colt’s life, but it was real touch-and-go there and he ended up in the hospital for nearly a full year. Good stallion had to retire from the Guard as a result.” “So you’re saying so long as nothing stupid happens, we’re fine?” “Yeah.” Rainbow shook her head. “You clearly don’t realize where you live now, do you?” “Pinkie?” The teenager barely heard her name mentioned. Right now, as she had the past couple of days, she felt as if she were off-kilter. This store was the Sugarcube Corner…but it was nothing like the place she knew. The patrons sounded similar, but at the same time, were so radically different. The back end was a lot less technologically complex – the wood stove instead of the expensive Viking culinary stove they bought last year being one such example – but it seemed to be laid out much in the same way. The warm earth tones and feel of a comfortable place to chat away the afternoon gave away to the kind of riotous fluffery she liked when she was seven years old, and yet somehow it felt just as comfortable. The desserts were mostly the same. The coffee was mostly the same. Pretty much everything was so Goddamn different…but, weirdly enough, at the same time – the same. There, seated and eating a muffin and drinking a coffee, was Derpy…but not the Derpy she knew. No, the one she knew would occasionally adjust her glasses while battering away at an expensive laptop. This one had a gray coat, a lazy eye and read from a book. But the wide, contented smile she saw on this Derpy matched the private ones that her friend had when she thought no one was looking. Then there was Mr. Buckhill. The man who Pinkie knew to be the restaurant editor for Equestria Daily only came into their café because, as he admitted, he liked “places where they know who I am and they don’t try to impress me with their best just once”, because those places were always at their best. She didn’t know who the maroon-colored earth stallion seated at the typewriter he’d brought in was for sure, but she bet without a doubt that he had to be Mr. Buckhill’s counterpart. And then there were the stabs at her heart: the pegasus mare lounging in a bean bag by the far wall, clearly reading from a script and enunciating, had to be Watermelody…or Watermelody’s double. Pinkie had never admitted it to anyone, not even her friends, but after she realized she was bisexual but before coming to terms with her feelings for Sunset, she’d had a thing for the budding actress. Now, she knew it had been purely physical; in hindsight, she’d learned that she would have had zero things in common with the girl. But now, there she was, alive in a sort of manner…while the Watermelody that Pinkie had known had been buried two months ago after having been murdered by the Dead Hand Killer. There were so many differences, and yet so many of the same things: Mr. Jalapeño, who ran the Mexican restaurant across the street and always tried to add extra heat to his dishes upon Pinkie’s request whenever she ate there; in turn, he often came by the Corner and was a wonderful customer and a blast to know. The pony with the pepper-red coat and poblano-green mane and moustache, by the back wall, drinking horchata, had to be his counterpart. Mrs. Thimble, who ran the fabric store that Rarity often went to for either work or personal reasons often came by the café as well…and now, there was a mare that looked exactly like her (in a sense) that sat at a table, drinking a hay chai and reading from a fashion magazine. In fact, the only regular who didn’t seem to have an equivalent here was Mrs. Honeycomb, the friendly older woman that had taken a shine to Sunset as of late. Despite that small difference, the list went on and on: so much different…so much the same. It made Pinkie’s head spin, just thinking about it. And then there were the personal issues, too. Her heart just ached about that. “Pinkie?” “Sorry, Auntie Cup,” she said, automatically, without turning to the person she was addressing, “I was just having a weird-out moment.” A second later, she realized who she was talking to and turned fully. “Oh, I’m sorry, Mrs. Cake! I, uh, just….” “It’s okay, dear, I understand this is a bit of an adjustment for you,” Mrs. Cake told her. “I know it is for us. I mean, we love our Pinkie dearly, but to find out that in another reality, she’s our actual niece? I mean, we really don’t know her parents all that well, and I personally don’t have any siblings, so to find out that my counterpart is your mother’s sister? It’s just….” She chuckled. “Like I said, it’s a bit of an adjustment.” “I’ll say,” the teen said, a blush coming to her cheeks. Right now, she hadn’t seen much of her friends since the whole thing began, not that she blamed them. Spending time with their counterparts probably took up a lot of their own time and, if she had to hazard a guess, their attention as well. So much the same, yet so different: for one, her aunt wasn’t a pony, nor did she have blue fur. And, not to be rude, but her aunt was kind of brawny – a petite bodybuilder-sorta type, if that made sense – whereas this Mrs. Cake seemed to be a bit more on the portly side. Nor did her aunt have a beehive hairstyle, especially one that looked like an icing swirl. But they had the same matronly attitude, and the way this mare’s rose eyes looked at Pinkie with concern was the same way her aunt usually did when there was a problem. Like the problem two weeks ago, she had to admit. She was still dealing with the fallout from that; while she knew that things were mostly back to normal, she never wanted to see that look in her aunt’s eyes again. “Do you need to take a break?” the mare asked. “I….” She shook her head. “Can’t afford to: right now, it’s clear you’re having a busy period, and if my guess is right the lunch rush will come in a couple of minutes. Even if this is mostly a countertop operation as opposed to the Sugarcube Corner Café’s traditional fast-casual setup, that’s still quite a bit. I suspect that if business was anything like yesterday, you’re understaffed by at least two employees and with Pinkie being out doing Bearer stuff now and then, it gets even busier, so it means that just having me here allows you to take a breather, reassess the store’s needs and maybe take time out to plan the quality checks for all the stores, including the planned expansions to Old Towne and Bella Vista, right?” Mrs. Cake blinked. “How…how many cafés do your aunt and uncle own?” “Five with two upcoming new stores,” Pinkie answered. “CJV has also asked us if we’re interested in taking over the coffee concessions there, but I don’t know if they have the resources to at the moment.” Mrs. Cake’s jaw dropped. “We only have the one store! How do your aunt and uncle run seven?” “Payroll’s hell, as Uncle Carrot says,” Pinkie replied with a laugh. “Plus, my aunt and uncle weren’t on the May cover of Canterlot Business Monthly for nothing, you know!” A sudden pink blur came in. “Pinkie! You gotta come with me!” Pinkie said, bouncing up and down on her hooves as if it were urgent business. “There’s an emergency!” “But Mr. and Mrs. Cake need my help,” the teenager replied to her counterpart. “In fact, don’t you work for them? You’re supposed to help—” “No time!” the pony said, grabbing her counterpart by the hand and dragging her off. “You have this well in hoof, right, Mrs. Cake?” Before the older mare could even give an answer, both Pinkie Pies had cleared the threshold of the shop and were well vanishing in the distance. “I…guess so,” Mrs. Cake commented to those that weren’t there. Coco Pommel was sure, somewhere along the line, that she’d become an expert of watching tennis…and she’d never seen that sport a day of her life. On one side of the table, Rarity, her employer, friend and mentor, looked across the table. “But…how would this Pantone gentleman know about colors without the ability of magic? I just don’t understand! Here in Equestria, Colorway is a famous designer who has spent practically her whole life doing nothing but developing new colors along with her staff! And you’re saying that this Pantone gentleman is doing it all by himself?” On the other side of the table was Rarity, her human counterpart, who while younger, seemed in very many ways worldlier than the unicorn. “Oh, Rarity dear, PANTONE isn’t an individual, it’s a company, and one of the world’s foremost when it comes to creating colors! If I recall correctly, a gentleman named Matching System created the company over sixty years ago to create a global standard for colors. Prior to that, red wasn’t always universally red, and while color systems existed, such as the Crayola system, it wasn’t taken as seriously as it is now. It was Mr. System’s full development of PANTONE that brought it to the forefront of fashion and design.” “But just one person? Even with your fancy computer systems, I just cannot see how one pony – er, human – could do all that! Even just Colorway’s staff of ten haven’t come up with as many colors as you’ve shown me!” “But it’s not just one person. PANTONE is a global company, filled with scientists, artists and other people working on the best way to ensure that the colors universally match. That’s why it’s considered superior to other systems such as Colorchecker, RAL Colour Fans and the Tokyo process.” Coco looked at both, watching both masters at work: the older, smart, debonair mare that she aspired to be…and the young, vibrant and sophisticated girl that she was closer to in age already. The changeling hybrid suddenly felt a headache coming on from watching the ping-ponging of the abstract ideas going back and forth. She could suddenly feel herself going weak and when that happened…well, bad things followed. The unicorn turned to her. “Coco, dear? I think you should go lie down for a bit.” “No, Miss Rarity, I’m okay,” the younger mare stated. “No, you’re not, dear.” With a delicate hoof, she stated, “your wings just popped out from underneath your carapace.” She then summoned a mirror and while Coco appeared normal for the most part, two gossamer changeling wings partially seemed to be poking out of her back, as if she were suddenly turning into a butterfly. “I…guess I should go lie down for a bit?” Coco asked, feeling suddenly ashamed. To her surprise, she was suddenly hugged by the other Rarity. “There is no shame in being tired, dear. My employer back home, Cardigan Sweater, has a malady that keeps her in a wheelchair, so she has to rest often. And yet, she is all the more hardworking for it. So don’t think that your need to take a break is a sign that your supervisor thinks anything less of you. From what I can tell, you mean the world to her already.” “Okay,” she yawned, feeling comfortable in the human girl’s embrace. A second later, though she wasn’t aware of it, Coco Pommel fell asleep. Rarity reached up and patted her cargo on the head. “Poor dear. Isn’t there anything that can be done for her?” The unicorn drank her tea, looking at her counterpart. “I’m afraid not. Whatever was done to her was done in the womb, and while I don’t know if your world has the ability to undo such horrific changes as done to her, here we cannot. But she’s adjusted to her maladies and made something of herself, despite everything. I, for one, am proud to be her employer and her friend.” “You should be. She seems like a sweet young mare with a promising future ahead of her. Are there many like her?” “Truthfully? We hope not. There have been concerns amongst those few in the know that she may be a sleeper agent for the changelings. Now, Twilight and the other princesses trust her implicitly and obviously so do I. But she’s trying hard to retain her ponyness, and unfortunately, we cannot say the same for any other potential ones out there, especially if we do not know that they exist. She’s not even sure if they do and she’s given all the information she could to Divine and Shining.” “Still, she’s as much of a sweetheart as the Coco we know,” the younger Rarity noted. “Oh? I wasn’t aware you knew her counterpart.” Rarity nodded. “You would have to ask Twilight or Octavia, given that she goes to the same school they do. She is, however, legally Sunset’s cousin through that convoluted fiction that they had to come up with to let her live in our world. Coco, however, does not know about that and instead just thinks of Sunset as a sort of older sister-type of cousin. She is actually part of the ‘Cloth Mark Catastrophes’ group, which seems to be much larger than your Cutie Mark Crusaders.” The older Rarity groaned. “Oh, I am so glad my sister finally got her mark. She and her friends got into quite a bit of a mess trying to find theirs, and still do while trying to help other foals earn theirs.” “I wish we could do the same for my sister and her friends, but the Girl Scouts continue on until you’re eighteen, so she has at least four more years of badges to get into new and unique trouble while trying to earn them. Worse, she’s convinced Coco and Coco’s best friend, Crackle, into joining as well. Now, they recently had Raspberry Beryl’s counterpart join their group, and while I would hope that she would stay clear of that inanity, she has a personality more like your Fluttershy than your Raspberry, and so it wouldn’t surprise me if she gets shanghaied into their schemes.” The unicorn gave her counterpart a smile. “And here I thought that I lived in a chaotic, unforgiving world.” The teen fashionista uttered a musical laugh. “Sometimes my parents joke that it drives them to drink. I think once it actually has.” “Oh?” “Let’s just say that I stay clear of egg nog during the holidays for that reason now.” Asleep in the human Rarity’s arms, Coco just snuggled contentedly, passively absorbing the love around her. “C’mon, everypony sing along!” Pinkie…was in hell. “We hope that you’ll get better, That’s what we’re here to say! We hope that you get better, And healthier every day! We hope that you’ll be out soon, And dancing with a song, But things will go much faster If you just sing along! So….” Pinkie felt her heart quicken. It was them. It wasn’t them. Goddamn it, it had to be them – but at the same time, there was no way that it could be. And counterparts were different – hell, she and Pinkie were different, so there was no way in hell that it could be them in any way, shape or form! And yet, despite all that, she looked at the two adults standing there. The businesslike mare, a silver-coated unicorn with copper mane and a kind smile. And next to her, a strong batpony with deep-blue fur and a brown-and-green mane, looking as concerned. But she didn’t see just them. She saw him. And her. Words crept into her mind: “Oh, you like it, you whore. You like it when everyone’s in you.” “Oh, you’ll do whatever I want. You know why? Because that’s all you’re good for. Just licking me clean.” “Dear brother, don’t you think the whore will like it if she had all of her holes filled at once?” Pinkie wanted to scream, to lash out, to leave. To run away. And yet, she couldn’t…because of the fourth pony in the room. A frail, fragile earth filly hooked up to several bizarre magical devices and lying in a hospital bed, that her counterpart was dearly trying to cheer up and that these two…adults…were clearly worried about. So she sat, smiled and tried to sing along with the clearly ad-libbed song her counterpart was singing. Even as her hair straightened, she forced the smile onto her face and listened to the voices, each syllable stabbing her a thousand times over. Sunny, help! She watched as Pinkie danced along with her one-mare band equipment, tailor-made for a mare on the move. Pinkie remembered when she’d been fourteen and interested in making something like that, because it could be done. Her aunt and uncle had gently tried to steer her away from that, given that Pinkie had no real musical talent, but it had been Cicely who had taught her how to play the violin a bit, even if, unsurprisingly, she turned out to have no real skill for it. She watched as Atlas and Cicely looked at the poor filly on the bed. Did they care about her? They looked as if they did, as if she was vitally important to them. Were they abusing her, as Pinkie had been abused? Was that even fair to assume? She wasn’t like the pink earth mare that shared her name, so why would a unicorn mare and a batpony stallion be the same as the boy and girl (assuming they were actually that and not just a young-looking man and woman) who gave her a cold realization even as they took everything from her? Sunny, please save me! Please! Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. She ran out of the room, tears streaming from her eyes. Her counterpart didn’t give chase, but instead moved so that the ill filly wouldn’t see the sudden scene. Finally, the pony was done with her song and looked at the two other adult ponies present, both of who were crying tears of melancholy. Pinkie walked over and looked at the filly, who had thankfully fallen asleep during all the excitement. “Good. She fell asleep. Have the doctors said if things will improve?” Sweet Cicely shook her head. “No. Pythiosis is generally fatal. We’re hoping for a miracle, but sooner or later, Little Light is just going to….” The mare buried her face in her hooves, overcome by her grief. Royal Atlas put a wing around his wife. “Pinkie, as the orphanage caretakers, you know that we don’t care about how the foals come to us, only that when they do, until they’re adopted, they’re ours. And Little Light has been a special case to us, especially given that her dam abandoned her.” He himself fought back tears as he looked at the Element of Laughter. “It’s…it’s very brave for your friend, who isn’t even of our species, to care so much for our little foal.” “Isn’t there anything the princesses can do?” Cicely begged. “Twi is working on it,” Pinkie assured them, “but I can’t make promises for her. But she’s doing her best, I promise.” She looked at the door. “For right now, I’d better go check on my friend.” “Give her our thanks,” Atlas said to her before he reached down to nuzzle his distraught wife. “She’ll be fine, sweetie, I’m sure of it.” As she left the heartbroken family in peace, Pinkie wasn’t sure that Twilight would be able to save the day… …or that the other Pinkie was crying because of Little Light’s condition. Dry Sands hated this place. Sure, he’d moved here for business, but he didn’t like Ponyville. Sure, it was good for the wife and foals, but it was so…boring. The place was just growing into something decent thanks to Princess Twilight and her Crystal Vomit Palace™, but until that happened, he was stuck at his blasé job at Napkins and Buckets as the company accountant. He heard a growling sound and he wondered for a moment if it had been worth it to skip lunch. Granted, the closest place to grab lunch from was that eyesore of a coffee shop that looked like an oversized cupcake – Sugarcute Corner or something like that – but they had that freaky…thing…that worked there, as well as that pink mare that seemed like she lived off nothing but sugar and salt licks. That was the kind of headache he didn’t want to deal with, so he decided to take a walk instead. Maybe he’d find something on the way to munch on. He then heard the growling behind him…and realized it wasn’t his stomach. He was already in a pissy mood, so he turned and shouted, “Hey, you don’t have to follow me so close, you know!” He never knew what hit him. He did, however, eventually find out that it was a fir tree that stopped his unintended flight, breaking several of his bones as he collided against it. Pinkie found herself crying her heart out on a bench. Despite her situation, none of the ponies approached her, instead staying either what was a respectful distance away…or a safe distance. She didn’t care at the moment. She didn’t want anyone around. Except one. And a second later, she felt comforting arms around her. “I came as quick as I could,” Sunset told her, immediately summoning a tissue to wipe Pinkie’s eyes dry. “The polar bears are probably angry that I had to skip out of a meeting, but I asked Softwing to sit in for me.” “Softwing?” Pinkie sniffed. “Not important right now,” Sunset said, genuinely worried about her friend. “What happened?” “I…I ran into them.” A chill raced down Sunset’s spine as Pinkie’s tone made it very clear who the individuals in question were. “And they… And they….” Pinkie devolved into a mass of broken tears and all Sunset could do was to hold her close. She didn’t love Pinkie the way the girl wanted her to, but that didn’t mean there was no love at all. Pinkie was more than “part of her court”, more than just a friend. And Sunset didn’t care how she looked to the ponies right now as she sat there in her business attire as Pinkie soaked her blouse and blazer with her tears. Several minutes passed before Pinkie was able to speak again. “I want to go home,” she said sadly. “I can take you back, if you want,” Sunset told her. “Might take some explaining with your aunt and uncle, since they think we’re in Oregon for the weekend, but I’ll be happy to do it.” Blue eyes reddened by tears looked into Sunset’s cyan ones. “I…I don’t want to be a burden to you, Sunny. I want to be here for you, I just….” “Okay, tell you what,” Sunset told her. “I’ll be right back. Let me tell the others that I’m going to take you back to the portal and then we can get going. That should give you time to say your goodbyes to everyone. Is that okay?” Pinkie nodded slightly, but she swore she saw the disappointment in Sunset’s eyes. As the flame-haired girl started casting her return teleport to Canterlot, Pinkie grabbed a hold of her and both girls teleported away. A second later, Pinkie Pie popped into the park, expecting to see her namesake. She looked around, but did not find any humans present. “That’s weird,” she mused aloud. “I was pretty sure my Pinkie Sense told me she was here….” The two of them ended up in Sunset’s tower. Pinkie looked around. “Wow, I know you’re a princess,” she told her would-be lover, “but I didn’t know you were a princess, if that makes sense.” “Pinkie! You’re lucky I know where I was going, or you could have been seriously hurt! Teleporting is not a joke!” Sunset scolded. “We could have ended up in a wall if I wasn’t careful.” “I’m sorry! Sunny, I’m sorry, but….” She tackled Sunset, bawling. “I don’t want to be a disappointment to you! I know you’re not happy with me but—” The curly-haired teen devolved into incomprehensible sobbing again, and it was all Sunset could do to console her. Several more minutes went by as Sunset held her friend, while Pinkie cried in shame and worry. Sunset, in turn, promised that no, she wasn’t disappointed, and she understood how Pinkie’s fears had been translated by seeing her tormentors’ counterparts. After a few minutes, she gently kissed Pinkie on the crown of her head. She wasn’t sure why she did it, but it seemed like the right thing to do. “Feel better?” Sunset asked. Pinkie walked over and sat down on Sunset’s bed. “I just….” Pinkie then decided to tell Sunset everything of the last few minutes, and what she’d endured. Of having to hear their voices, and their words directed towards the little filly and how everything must have been true even as it rang false. Sunset embraced Pinkie, telling her, “I’m not disappointed in you, Pinkie. All things considered, you handled it very well and I couldn’t be prouder of you.” Pinkie did not acknowledge the compliment. “I just…I can’t take it, Sunny! I know it’s not them, but it’s them! And I…. I….” She broke down into tears once more, bawling into Sunset’s blouse, soaking it completely. Gently, Sunset lifted Pinkie’s head so that the girl’s tear-stained eyes could look into hers. “I know. I know it’s hard, Pinkie, I really do.” “But you need me to go back to Ponyville, don’t you?” “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, and I can certainly send you home if need be. I don’t want you to hurt; you’re too important to me for that.” Pinkie wiped her eyes. “But you need me here, don’t you?” “I need ponies to see humans at their best. As much as I would like to show them myself, I’m not really human, so I don’t understand everything, even after having lived on Earth for years. That’s why I need you and the others to show what I can’t: to show them that we’re more than monsters or the Megan, because they need to know we’re just like them, only with two legs vice four. I am a bridge…but I can only be that. I need people to be my ambassadors, those I know and love who can do it just by being them. Not by being diplomats or anything special…just by being everyday people.” “I…I let you down, didn’t I?” Pinkie said, her hair completely flat. “No, and I mean that, Pinkie. You could never let me down.” Sunset gave Pinkie a soft smile. “Just be the Pinkie I know you are, and that’s enough for me.” Pinkie looked around the room. “You sure I can’t come stay with you at least tonight? I mean, private chambers, candlelight….” Trying not to get her friend’s hopes up, Sunset merely said, “I’ve got Tavi staying with me right now. She’s had some medical issues, and I want to make sure she’s taken care of.” “Okay, but she’d better understand that the only one who has that spot reserved 24/7 is me, okay?” Sunset smiled, glad to see that her friend was rebounding. “You sure you’re not going to change your mind on that?” In response, Pinkie leaned forward and kissed Sunset. Sunset, not prepared for it, took the blow of sorts, though she broke off before Pinkie tried anything further. “Look, Pinkie….” “I know. No PDA right now, but you’re my girl! Had to let you know you still mean the world to me. But…can we just stay like this for a while?” “Pinkie, I have several meetings I need to attend. That’s why I’m in business attire.” “I understand. And by the way, you really look good in that, you know?” Sunset blushed. “Thanks.” Pinkie hugged Sunset and said, “Now, go ahead and send me back and then get back to what you’re doing. I’ll manage.” “Are you sure?” “If I’m not, dinner’s on me the first night we’re back. And…come to think of it, dinner’s on me anyway. We haven’t gone on a date in a few weeks and we’re due for another.” Sunset looked at the clock against the wall, realizing that the meeting that Softwing had taken over for her was almost halfway over. I guess I could…. Involuntarily, she yawned. I guess that trip to Manehattan this morning took more out of me than expected. Sunset flashed briefly and changed back to her normal clothing. “Tell you what: We can stay here for a while, but after that I’ll need to send you back to Ponyville, okay?” Pinkie flopped back down on the bed, spreading her arms open towards her love. “I’m not going to argue that.” Nothing more was said as both girls lay down on Sunset’s sizeable bed and after a few minutes, both had fallen asleep in the other’s arms. Coco opened her eyes slightly, finding herself laying on her bed. She blushed slightly, realizing she’d fallen asleep in the human Rarity’s arms, but that clearly she’d been taken care of by one of the two Raritys. She turned to look at her back, noting that her wings had slid back under her near-invisible carapace and had restored her to appearing more or less like a normal pony again. She smiled briefly; she was lucky. As a changeling, she had a new queen of sorts that cared about her and that was probably the best that any changeling could hope for. But as a pony, she had a boss that cared about her and a growing reputation here as Rarity’s assistant and apprentice, and maybe that, more than anything else, was what she needed to continue to hold onto her ponyness. She got up and stretched, then headed for her bedroom door. No doubt the Raritys were hard at work at their incredible creations, and if Coco was to ever reach those same highs, she needed to do it alongside her friend. Her boss? Her queen? Coco gave herself a soft smile. Did it really matter what the words were? A few hours later, Sunset felt herself being tapped awake. She looked up to see Softwing looking at her, somewhat bemused. “You know, when you said you had to leave your meeting, I didn’t know it was so that you could spend time with your special somepony...er, somehuman,” the griffoness commented drily. “It’s…it’s not like that,” Sunset explained. “It’s okay, Sunset, you don’t have to explain it to me. Though now I understand what you mean about finding someone of your own to love.” Softwing smiled and added, “In any case, I came to drop off the Sibearian documents so that you can look them over; you have an additional meeting with their ambassador which I set for tomorrow afternoon. And if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m going to go get some lunch, especially since I want to try some of those human dishes your family has. They seem interesting.” “Okay.” Sunset then looked at the clock. “Oh, shit – I have that meeting with the Abyssinian embassy that I’m late for.” She cast a spell, slipping back into business attire, then a second one to fix her makeup. “Will you do me a favor and send Pinkie back to Ponyville?” “I don’t know if I’m strong enough to do that,” Softwing admitted. “If you can’t, ask Jewel to do it. She probably knows the spell. And speaking of which, set up a dinner for the three of us. I think we should talk and plan anything else that may come our way during the week. Anyway, I gotta go.” “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she’s okay, Sunny.” “Thanks, Softwing. I really appreciate it.” Nothing more was said as Sunset vanished into sparkles. A few minutes later, Pinkie awoke to find that Sunset wasn’t there. Instead, a griffin stood there, looking at her as if eyeing food of some sort. Pinkie wasn’t afraid of that, but the fact that the newcomer continued to focus her gaze on her for some reason managed to make Pinkie feel inadequate. “Can I help you?” Pinkie asked. This, probably, was the “Softwing” that Sunset had mentioned earlier. A new person that worked for Sunset? Or something else? “Her Highness stated that I need to send you back to Ponyville,” the griffin stated in a voice that sounded like she wasn’t happy to do this. “Are you ready?” “I….” The look on Pinkie’s face was one of disappointment; Sunset wasn’t even around to send her off. Did that mean….? “Her Highness had to head off to a meeting that she was late for. Now, I hate to be rude, but I’m already running late for lunch myself and I have another meeting I have to attend in her place, while she’s off seeing the Abyssinians.” The griffin then began to prepare a teleportation spell of some kind, which to Pinkie’s surprise, fizzled out. “Is…is something wrong?” Pinkie asked. “No, just a miscalculation on my part.” There was a knock at the door, and Softwing called out in a frustrated voice, “Come in.” A unicorn marched in, with an annoyed look on her face and bearing a sizeable bouquet of what looked to be crystal roses. From the looks of her, however, Pinkie knew something was very wrong. This pony wasn’t just an employee. No employee wore the pony equivalent of a little black dress and wore something that smelled like Coco Mademoiselle’s Eau de Parfum, a fragrance Rarity had told her was worn by those clearly on the chase. “These were sent over by the Inariese embassy,” the mare told the griffin. “They’re for Princess Sunset. Where should I put them?” “Who are they from?” the griffin asked. “The courier only said they were a gift from the Iniarese embassy to Princess Sunset. However, if you’ll note, they’re sky blue.” Softwing sighed. “Of course they’re sky blue, given they’re from the Inariese. Look, I’m going to hide these; Her Highness hardly needs to deal with this at the moment. Would you do me a favor and send our wayward human here back to Ponyville?” “Can’t we just put her on a train or something?” the unicorn asked. “We probably could, but Princess Sunset wants her fillyfriend to be taken care of, and that’s what we do here,” Softwing stated, taking the roses. “Now, I’m going to go mix these in with some of the other bouquets around the tower; hopefully they won’t be as noticeable that way.” With nothing more to say, she departed the room, leaving the unicorn behind. Both Pinkie and Jewel looked at each other and without a word, the two knew they were sizing each other up. “What’s important about sky blue?” the teen said, feeling a pain grow in her heart. The unicorn looked at her as if wondering whether she should bother answering the question. Finally, she relented: “Sky blue is the traditional Inariese color of love. One of the Inariese princes asked for Her Highness’ hoof in marriage.” Pinkie’s eyes grew wide. “What?” “Not that it matters,” the unicorn said smugly, as her horn began to glow as she prepared a spell. “After all, we all know that when it comes time to pick a mate, the princess has the best option in front of her: me.” The mare smiled sweetly, and Pinkie suddenly found herself both afraid and offended at once. “Now just wait one minute!” she began. “Oh, I know she’s a friend of yours,” the unicorn said off-handedly (hoofedly? Pinkie wondered), as if making an aside. “But she is, after all, a mare beyond compare, and she deserves somepony of her kind to love her. Not some foolish kitsune tod, don’t you think? But enough of that. Time to send you back to Ponyville!” Before Pinkie could say anything further, the spell was released. Pinkie was caught up in a flash of wine-hued sparkles before vanishing, the air issuing a popping sound as the air rushed into the space where the human had been. Staring at the space where the human had been, Jewel wondered why the human had reacted so oddly. She knew that Princess Sunset had several dear friends with her entourage, but maybe that human mare wanted to be more than just friends? Jewel blew a strand of her mane out of her eyes. As if. After all, when push came to shove, it was clear who was going to be Princess Sunset’s true and special somepony. Pinkie climbed out of Lake Ponyville, the water sloughing off her as she made her way to a nearby tree. She wondered if that unicorn had done that on purpose. She said she was going after Sunny, the teen mused, still reeling from what she’d been told about the girl that she loved more than anything. Was that why Sunset needed her here? So that she could be wooed by a prince from another land? A king? Had Sunset tried to spare her the pain of finding out about that? Because as much as Pinkie would be willing to fight against Rose, or any normal person…the truth was, here, Pinkie couldn’t compete with that. There was no way for her to do so. I’m going to lose her, the irrational part of her mind said. I’m going to lose the one I love most and there’s nothing I can do about it! She buried her face in her hands, weeping uncontrollably. “Pinkie!” Pinkie suddenly felt furry pink forelegs around her. She turned to look at a semi-familiar face, and while the other Pinkie’s mane wasn’t deflated, she could see the concern in the mare’s eyes. “I’m glad I found you! Are you okay?” Pinkie looked at Pinkie, and for the first time she wondered if there was more to the mare than she thought. She didn’t necessarily think she was the more sophisticated one, or that the pony was a simpler person, but that there were clear differences between them. “I’m fine, Pinkie,” deciding that she really didn’t want to deal with it right now. “Just…drained.” “I’m sorry I brought you in without asking you, but Little Light needed the cheering up!” the pony insisted as she pulled a towel out of her mane so her counterpart could dry off. “She’s so brave, holding on despite her sickness, and I know that Cicely and Atlas absolutely love her even if she’s just under their care—” “Why?” The teen accepted the towel gratefully; she could dry herself off…and wipe away her tears without her counterpart noticing. “Why is she in their care?” “Well, they’re the ones who run the orphanage,” the mare explained. “I mean, they have their own foal; Tattle is just the cutest little filly, but they always wanted a big family, Atlas said.” The mare looked sad. “Little Light…they named her. Her mother just abandoned her at the orphanage, and they don’t even know who she was.” Just like Sunny, the teen thought. She knew her lover’s true origins and though Pinkie knew Sunset didn’t care about who her dam was, she’d also long divulged what she knew about her birth and appearance at the orphanage where her “biological mother” eventually found her. Unaware her counterpart was only half-listening, the mare continued: “But she’s sick with an incurable disease, and a filly that young doesn’t deserve it!” Pinkie was frantic, and for a moment, the teen wondered if her counterpart had gone through things that were equivalent to what she’d gone through as a child. “And I’d forgotten that you have your own illness and I’m sorry if I brought that up for you, but I thought that if one Pinkie could cheer up Little Light, two Pinkies could do even better! I’m sorry I hadn’t thought about how it would affect you.” “It’s fine.” Pinkie looked down at the ground for a moment and thought about what she was going to say. “Is she okay?” “She’s doing her best, and Twi is looking into a cure for it, but it’s not a disease we know very well,” came the response. “I know nopony deserves to have this thing, especially a little filly with so much to look forward to and with foster parents that love her.” Despite her sadness, Pinkie gave a wide smile to her counterpart. “I know Atlas and Cicely are trying to do their most for her, even with all the problems he has because he’s a batpony, but—” “Stop! Just…stop, okay?” Pinkie fixed her eyes on the mare standing there. She couldn’t stand to hear one more positive thing about the names being casually bandied about by her counterpart. It wasn’t the fault of their owners, not really, but each glowing statement about them was an icepick to Pinkie’s brain, a stab to her heart and a shank shoved in a spot that she already felt made her sometimes inadequate to be meant as Sunset’s Bride. The mare sat there, turning her head slightly as if looking at the girl from a new angle would shed light on this sudden development. “Why?” Pinkie sighed. “You might not want to hear what I have to say, Pinkie,” she told her. “Oh, is this double-secret probation kind of stuff? Because I’m good at that! I have my Special Pinkie Decoder Ring! I got it from the time there were a million of me and I had to watch paint dry in order to prove that I’m the one and only Pinkie! Except…I’m not really the only Pinkie, because you’re here and you’re Pinkie too and so that’s kinda silly, right?” Pinkie frowned; there was no way she could do this easily. “Is there…some place that we could talk about this in private?” “Sure! To the Pinkie Cave!” “So…remind me again why we’re doing this?” Diamond Tiara wondered aloud. “Um…cutie marks?” Sweetie Belle reminded her. “But he doesn’t have one!” Scootaloo pointed at the colt, Whitewater, then turned to her fellow Crusaders. “And we promised that we’d help everypony out there get their marks, ‘cause we’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” “Lucky us,” Diamond drolled before turning to Whitewater. “And you’re sure that this is what you think you’re going to earn your cutie mark in?” Whitewater nodded. “My dad’s the best riverguide ever – that’s why his name is Riverguide! And my family has always been in the river rafting business, so I have to get my mark as a guide, too!” He beamed, his gap-toothed smile filled with confidence. “I’ll be the best one that’s ever been!” Sweetie nodded excitedly. “That’s the spirit!” The small watercraft continued down the Ponyconos River, with Whitewater steering just as he’d been taught, while the other four paddled. The raft, a hoof-lashed number of rope and half-cut logs, wasn’t as sturdy as some professionally-built ones that the colt had worked with, but Scootaloo had assured him that building his own might also be a way to find his special talent, and while Whitewater had never really built one, he knew enough from his father’s trips that he could reasonably do it from memory. He hoped. So now, as the five were moving down the river, it occurred to the young earth colt that he wasn’t familiar with this part of the river. Taking a look around at his surroundings once more, he was definitely sure that this was an area that he’d not been at before. Finally, he looked at Sweetie. “Um…where are we?” Sweetie smiled. “Horseshoe Bend,” she replied. “It’s always so pretty, and I thought it would be a great place to get your cutie mark!” Whitewater’s eyes went wide – he wasn’t allowed to raft down the bend, as it was just before the Raging Rapids – even his father didn’t try to boat down the rapids! Worse, after the rapids was the Ghastly Gorge and all the dangers there. “Look, we gotta start paddling to shore,” he told them. “If we don’t, soon the current’s going to be too strong for us to deal with, and we’re going to lose control of the raft!” “Oh, c’mon, really?” Diamond asked. When he nodded, she turned to Sweetie. “And you knew about this?” “Hey, I thought the water was pretty the way it just splashes and stuff.” The white filly shrugged. “Don’t you think it’s neat?” “Why am I friends with you again?” At that point, the foals began to try to steer the raft to shore with their paddles, but as they did, the raft then began to round the bend. The river began to pick up speed, and little by little, despite their best efforts the foals in control of the primitive vessel started to find themselves not quite as in control as they thought. It began to move faster and faster and by the time one of the paddles was wrenched out of Silver Spoon’s hooves by the flow, they realized that they were in more than a bit of trouble. “What do we do now?” Scootaloo asked. “You could fly to get us help, right?” Whitewater asked, then when he looked at Scootaloo’s wings, he realized that wasn’t happening. “Okay, can you teleport us, Sweetie?” “I can’t even teleport myself!” she said. “My parents won’t let me learn that spell until I’m older!” “Maybe we should jump off and swim to shore?” Silver suggested. “Are you crazy? You saw the water pull the paddle out of your hoof! Do you think you can swim through that?” Whitewater asked her. “Look, the current’s too fast and we could get hurt or worse if we try to swim for it!” “I think things are about to get worse than that!” Scootaloo shouted, getting their attention. A second later, so did the roar of the water as they reached the Raging Rapids. “Sweetie! Try to cast a shield around us!” Whitewater told them. “Everypony, stay together and hold hooves!” “I’m not holding your hoof – you’re a colt! Cooties!” Silver told him. “Would you rather get slammed against rocks?” She thought about it a second and grabbed his hoof immediately. The five looked forward at the raging river and the stones sticking out of it, like jagged teeth. If for some reason the raft survived being slammed against the rocks and shoals like a wooden pinball, just beyond it was the Ghastly Gorge and all the dangers that were within. The foals started screaming for help, hoping that somepony would arrive in time or be able to rescue them. No rescue came. “…and that’s the real reason I ran,” Pinkie said, wiping her eyes for what had to feel like the millionth time. She hated herself for having to tell the story once more, as if it would never let her go, and moreso, telling probably what was the most innocent individual in the world – her counterpart. After all, Pinkie’s “Pinkie Cave” turned out to be a massive stash of balloons, confetti, party stuff and the like underneath Sugarcube Corner. It was the sort of thing that the teen herself would have longed to have had…when she was, say, eight. Sure, if the house she and her family lived in had a basement, she could probably use something like this for party planning and the like, but she would have loved to carve out a corner for fine art and a small library, as well as her personal shrine to her beloved. The beloved that’s marrying someone else, a voice in the back of her mind said, and Pinkie closed her eyes tightly, hoping that it was all just a nightmare that she would get over. Pinkie suddenly felt furred appendages embrace her again; her counterpart was very much into hugs. “I’m sorry you had to go through that and by ponies…er, humans…with those names,” the older Pinkie said, her hair straightening as much as the human girl’s had. “They sounded like horrible meanies and I can’t even begin to understand what they did to you.” Pinkie, holding her counterpart, now had an extra reason to hate herself: she probably shattered this mare’s innocence, for now and forever. She already knew Equestria wasn’t some candyland idyll; if it had been, she would have never met the love of her life, as Sunset never would have left such a utopia. Even still, this other Pinkie had been far more innocent than she was. Ironically, she’d already met an alternate version of herself before – she was still not really sure if that had happened or not; it felt more like a dream than anything – but Mina had been through a hell of her own, and yet had still been shocked to find what Pinkie had endured. And now this Pinkie was finding out that out of all of them, all the Pinkies in all the universes, it was the once happy-go-lucky teen, the one that had the misfortune to be a target of sexual predators and the luck to be the beloved bride of a goddess, that had a sort of reverse Midas Touch when it came to telling her story: Everything eventually turned to shit. But she had to be honest to Pinkie, if for no other reason than because she knew in her heart that lying wouldn’t accomplish anything. Worse, she would, in a sense, be lying to herself – and that was a vow she swore she would never do again. She’d suffered enough because of it, and she’d made Sunset suffer as a result. She would never let that happen again, and now, faced with another version of herself, even if a not human version, that had to be put to the test. “Please don’t make me explain it again. Or did you not learn the birds and the bees from your parents?” the teen said testily. “There’s no need to be rude, Pinkie, though I understand your frustration,” the older mare said. “I’m not as simple as you think I may be, nor do you humans have the corner on complexity. I’ve been paying attention all this time and while people know I’m spontaneous, that’s probably more just in my nature. I suspect that you used to be the same way before all this happened.” “Not really. Maybe when I was a kid, but not now. I like being fun and I like doing stuff, but sometimes I just want to be me, and sometimes I feel I can’t even be that around my own friends,” she admitted. “Honestly, if it wasn’t for my girlfriend, I would probably fall apart nowadays.” “Girlfriend? Is that anything like a fillyfriend?” the mare asked, then shook her head. “Are you a fillycuddler?” “Something sounds wrong about that term,” the human said with distaste. “And actually, I’m bisexual – I like boys and girls, though I’m honestly in love with the girl of my dreams right now.” Despite everything, a sublime smile came onto the heartwrenched girl’s face. “Without my Sunny, I’d be completely lost.” “You and Sunset are dating?” pony Pinkie asked. “That’s great!” “You don’t think it’s weird?” The older Pinkie shook her head. “Why should I? I mean, I like stallions, but…you’re not me, even if you are me, if that makes sense. You’re entitled to like whomever you want, and that’s none of my business. Besides, my friends don’t think I have my own interest in relationships, but…well, they’re kinda wrong on that….” “Oh?” The pink pony pawed the ground. “I really don’t deal with romantic relationships much, but I’ve had my own share. And since we’re in confession time here, I guess I should talk about the one that got away.” “Oh? Do tell.” “His name was Cheese Sandwich. You don’t happen to know anypony…er, anyhuman? by that name, do you?” The teen thought about it for a while. “Not at all, why?” “He started out as a bitter rival. He and I challenged each other to throw the party that outpartied any other party in the history of party, and…I kinda went overboard with the whole thing. Started obsessing about everything and…well, when push came to shove, I had to realize that I did lose it for a while, and that I should’ve worked with him to throw the best party ever so we could have both succeeded!” There was a smile in her eyes as she said, “When I did that, things improved for me. Got us a lot closer, too.” “Oh?” “Yeah. We kept in touch afterwards and during the start of the Winter of Aftermath, he came back to Ponyville. He was sick. He’d worked himself to the bone to try to bring joy to everypony out there, but with all the famine and the problems, he just kept pushing until he broke. He came back to me and I got him back on his feet. And…” The pink pony blushed. “Let’s just say that we got to know each other very well over several months.” Pinkie gave a soft smile. “He asked me to go with him, hoof and hoof, and to spend our lives together throwing the greatest parties out there. I wasn’t sure of what to say. I mean, I liked him a lot – and by a lot, I mean lots of smoochy-face time, if you get what I mean. But he was asking me to leave my friends and family behind. And I’m a Bearer. I mean, the whole idea, as much as I seriously thought about it, is as silly as if I were somehow a full-time teacher despite having a job and no teaching credentials. Just…probably within the realm of possibility, but not exactly the norm, if you get what I mean. “So…I told him no. I couldn’t leave. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t.” A melancholy look came over her eyes. “I got a letter from him a couple of days before you arrived. He said it would be the last one. He met a filly in Oatmaha, a mare named Confetti Blast who has much the same interests as I did…but unlike me, she wasn’t tied down.” Pinkie was quiet for a moment and said, “Don’t feel you’re the only Pinkie that’s ever dealt with heartbreak. I know I haven’t gone through what you have, but it hasn’t been any easier for me, especially since I’m the one everypony counts on to smile, smile, smile!” “You don’t always have to, you know.” “Maybe that works for you, but not me. We’re not the same kind of Pinkie.” We’re not the same kind of Pinkie. That was the same thing she’d been thinking once beforehand, when Sunset had first told her of her counterpart and what she was like. The words rang back with clarity and it was a sobering thought to have the words returned right back to her. The teen shifted uncomfortably in her seat, somewhat struck by the realization. “Which is another thing that I need to bring up,” the pony told her younger counterpart. “Please don’t hold what happened to you against Cicely and Atlas. They’re the sweetest, most honest and gentle ponies there are out there and I guarantee if they could have, they would have done everything to prevent what happened to you. I already know that your Sable Loam is different from the one from our world, and I suspect there are other differences as well. So why can’t you accept that this is one of them?” Pinkie crossed her forelegs and blue eyes looked into blue eyes. “I know you’re smart enough to know that.” “I…it’s hard,” the teen admitted. “It’s been the stuff of my nightmares forever. I just got around to barely telling my aunt and uncle about it, when I should have done so a long time ago, and the only reason I did was because it got out despite my best efforts. Until then, only my friends knew about it. I didn’t even want to tell Sunny about it, but I had to, since it was part of what ultimately led to us being together.” “But Atlas and Cicely have suffered so much. They love their daughter, Tattle, but Cicely said she’s always wanted a big family, but a fillyhood illness made it hard for her to have more foals. That’s why they took over the local orphanage, because they wanted to make sure that every colt and filly has a chance at love,” Pinkie insisted. “That’s why they’re doing everything they can for Little Light, even if we don’t think she’s going to make it. They love her dearly and were even going to adopt her themselves, so she could have a real mother and father before she moves on to the Great Pasture. “I don’t think ponies like that can be hated just because they have the same name as the humans that hurt you, Pinkie. We have the same names and we’re different, so please…don’t hate Cicely and Atlas? I know it’s not easy but if only for me, please?” The teen, not wanting to give an answer, changed the subject instead. “What’s wrong with Little Light?” “She has pythiosis. It’s a horrible, terrible disease and it’s killing her!” the pony cried. “Twi’s been working on it, but between her own duties and all the recovery we’ve had to do from the war and the Winter, none of the mages or others have been able to find a cure!” Tears started streaming down Pinkie’s muzzle, leaving rivers of sorrow in their wake. “I want Little Light to go out and play and have a good time with other colts and fillies, but she’ll never be able to, because there’s no cure!” “Pythiosis? It’s curable,” Pinkie said, matter-of-factly. “What?” The teen nodded. “A combination of targeted surgeries as well as potassium iodide administration usually does the trick.” When the pony’s jaw dropped, Pinkie added, “When Sunny was hospitalized, I took note. And now that she’s my girlfriend, I have to make sure I keep up on the plethora of medical conditions that could affect her. Yeah, I know she’s probably immune like crazy now, but I would be a horrible girlfriend if I didn’t keep an eye out.” “But it’s curable?” Pinkie nodded. “I can ask Sunny if she can recreate the chemical formula for the drug in question. I also have the book that details the surgery, if need be.” “Please!” The pony repeatedly hugged her counterpart, both excited and worried at the same time. “Okay. I might not like Cicely and Atlas, but I won’t let a little filly suffer.” She reached in her pocket for her phone. Less than an hour later, Pinkie watched from a distance as her counterpart spoke to Atlas and Cicely, explaining the “miracle treatment from Earth”. Watching them break into tears of joy was worth some comfort, as was the complete look of shock on the faces of the doctors and thaumic healers. “The surgeries in the book…we’d never have thought of them,” Princess Twilight told the teen, “because we rely so much on magic-based healing. It’s not like we don’t have operations, but like I said, magic. And the medicine you mentioned…we have those chemicals here as well; they’re alchemical reagents. But we would have never thought to use them in a chemistry setting.” “I know,” Pinkie said, hugging herself. Her skin itched as she knew her counterpart was probably telling them that she’d been to thank for this. She didn’t want the thanks. She didn’t want anything from them; she just wanted that filly to live a normal life and to not tie it to her at all. “They’ll want to thank you in person, you know,” the alicorn told her. “And I know you don’t want that. I don’t know why, only that Sunny told me that you’d likely want to be left out of it. But she also asked me to tell you to think about accepting their gratitude.” “I know. For her, I would.” Princess Twilight, aware of the “relationship” between the two, told the teen, “You know, you’re lucky that she cares so much about your feelings, Pinkie. No offense, but I would have insisted that you take the credit. You’ve done a good thing, not just for Little Light, but for all of ponydom as well. There are thousands of ponies suffering from this disease, and you’ve just hoofed us the means to solve it forever!” Pinkie, unable to say anything else, just turned and left the hospital. She needed air and sun. Or maybe just air and Sunny. Too bad it was starting to look like she couldn’t even have that. Sunny…please…don’t leave me….