//------------------------------//
// The Others 
// Story: Unfinished Chapter Ones 
// by FS713 
//------------------------------//



The atmosphere in the diner was thick and noisy, just as it was every other night. She sat in her seat, Mare-Do-Well hat hanging over her head as to obstruct her face. She had done this dozens of times before; she had the routine down pat.

She turned around, and to her surprise, there she was, at the table right behind her. The Original.

She was half-tempted to tap her on shoulder, strike up a conversation, catch up, but she knew she couldn’t; Celestia knows how she and her little friends would react if they found out a few of their kind still existed.

The Original was holding a conversation with a scruffy old orange stallion sitting opposite her; something about her friend opening a boutique nearby. She listened in.

“Yeah, making copies of yourself always sounds like a great idea, but before you know it you’re locked in a room with 50 Pinkie Pies watching paint dry.”

She cringed, shuddering a little as she flashed back to that awful day; sitting there, staring at that wall for hours on end, her sisters mercilessly slaughtered around her, one by one… “The Day The Fun Died”, some of them called it. She was lucky to have been one of the very few who escaped.

She could hardly believe The Original was referring to that horrible event so callously, as if it were just another day.

But this was no time to dwell on the past; she was at the diner for a reason, after all.

She stood up from her seat, puller her hat over her head, and walked out the door, as to appear a normal customer leaving.

She snuck around the perimeter of the building until she reached the backlot, and there it was; the back door. She took a deep breath, grabbed the steel latch, opened it up, and walked right in. 

She had to be careful; chefs and employees were everywhere. Perhaps it wasn't wise to do this during business hours, but she had already gone this far; besides, she didn't want to leave the others hanging for much longer.

When she opened up the door to the pantry, the sight and smell hit her like a brick; bread, vegetables, meats, desserts, far as the eye can see. She grabbed as much as she could and rushed out the back.