//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Dinner and a Show // Story: How to be Happy // by Leafdoggy //------------------------------// “Nah, hold up, you lost me.” Pinkie, Marble and Spitfire were still in their booth, having decided to trust the situation to Fluttershy. Marble was leaning forward with her head propped up on her hooves as she listened intently to the other two talk. Spitfire was pressed up against her, a wing outstretched to wrap around her loved one’s shoulders. Pinkie was lounging against the wall with her hooves propped up on the bench. They couldn’t see Fluttershy or Pinkamena from their booth, and had decided that moving to see what was happening was a step too far, so instead, Pinkie was telling them stories of their recent trials. “I don’t see how any of that made her eyes look like that,” Spitfire continued. Pinkie shrugged. “It just kinda happened.” Spitfire groaned. “Fine, well, why’s she just walking around like that? She looks ridiculous!” Marble nudged Spitfire’s side and pouted at her. “Be nice.” “This is nice,” Spitfire argued. “Somepony’s gotta tell her.” “She knows it looks weird,” Pinkie said. “Fluttershy just doesn’t like to hide stuff like that. She says it feels like a step back.” “Well, maybe a step back doesn’t always hurt, especially when not taking it makes everypony look at you like—” The bell above the diner’s door chimed, and Spitfire stopped short. All three of them turned to see Fluttershy walk in with Pinkamena held snugly under a wing. She walked right up beside the table and smiled at the group. Pinkamena had her eyes glued to the floor.  “Hey, everypony,” Fluttershy said quietly. “Um, so, I’m not really sure what happened, but… Well, this is Pinkamena.” She gave Pinkamena a squeeze that she hoped would be reassuring, but Pinkamena just recoiled in on herself further. They all reacted with some shock, but Marble was clearly the most surprised. “But you hate that name,” she said. “Pinkie hates that name,” Pinkamena mumbled. Marble looked confused. “But aren’t you—” “I’m not Pinkie.” “Why not?” Pinkie asked. Pinkamena shied away from the sound of her voice. “I’m just not.” Pinkie frowned. “You can be Pinkie if you want. I could come up with another name.” “See?” Pinkamena shook her head. “That’s why you’re Pinkie.” “Alright, let’s not just stand here,” Fluttershy said. “We can figure everything out once we’re sitting down. Where do you want to sit?” “Um…” Pinkamena looked around the table briefly. “I, uh… I kinda wanna sit next to Marble, I think…” Marble looked at Spitfire. “Is it alright if—” “Yeah, it’s cool,” Spitfire said. She kissed Marble’s forehead, then got up to make room. As the others sat down, she went and grabbed a chair from one of the diner’s tables and set it up at the end of the table for herself. When Pinkamena took her seat, Marble grabbed her hoof lovingly and gave her a kind smile, and Pinkamena did her best to smile back. Pinkie was the first one to talk again. “So where’d you come from?” Fluttershy frowned at her for her brashness, but Pinkie just shrugged. “I think we got split up at the mirror pool,” Pinkamena said. Marble gasped and huffed. “You know you’re not supposed to play there! It’s dangerous!” “I wasn’t playing,” Pinkamena said, “I was just… I go there when I’m sad.” “What the heck’s a mirror pool?” Spitfire asked. “It’s a magic pond in a cave that makes clones,” Pinkie told her. Spitfire looked over her glasses at Pinkie. “And you’re shocked that it made a clone of you?” “It’s supposed to need magic words!” Pinkie pouted. “It’s not my fault the legends didn’t say anything about just falling in.” “I don’t understand, though,” Marble said. “Last time, your clones were… Well, they weren’t like either of you.” Fluttershy nodded. “That’s the troubling part. As far as I can tell, neither of them are clones.” “So there’s just two Pinkies now?” Marble asked. “Not Pinkie,” Pinkamena muttered. “But what about when you feel better?” Marble asked her. Pinkamena frowned. “I’m not gonna feel better. I can’t. My ‘better’ is sitting over there,” she said, and pointed hard at Pinkie. “It’s only been a couple of hours,” Marble told her, “you can’t know that.” “I’m not gonna lie to myself and pretend it’ll all be okay.” “I hate to say it,” Spitfire spoke up, “but I kinda agree. I mean, what’s more likely, that the pool made two Pinkies and one just happened to be sad, or that the pool took that part of Pinkie and used it to make another pony?” “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t hope for the best, though,” Marble argued. “I bet she agrees with me,” Pinkamena said with a gesture towards Pinkie. Pinkie frowned, and her ears drooped. “I… I don’t wanna…” Her voice trailed off. “But you do,” Pinkamena said. Pinkie whined softly and turned her head away. “See? I bet she’s known the whole time that something was different.” “Come on,” Fluttershy said, “that isn’t fair.” “So?” Pinkamena pointed at Pinkie. “Can you tell? Can you feel that I’m not there?” Pinkie lowered her head and made an indiscernible noise. “Pinkamena, please,” Fluttershy said. “No! I wanna hear her say it,” Pinkamena said. “I wanna hear her tell all of you that she knows I’m gone and she’s glad.” The bell above the door chimed as the only other customers quietly slid out of the building. “Tell them,” Pinkamena demanded. “You owe me that! At least don’t lie to me!” “Of course I’m happy!” Pinkie turned back with tears in her eyes. “How could I not be? All my life I felt something inside me that never stopped hurting, and then today it was just gone. I didn’t know it was hurting you instead! I just knew I felt better!” “You know about me now, though,” Pinkamena said, “but you’re still happy! You’re glad it’s me and not you.” “I’d take it back if I could!” Pinkie was full-on crying now, and it cracked her voice badly. “That’s easy to say when you can’t,” Pinkamena replied. “You get to hide behind that, telling yourself you would if you could, so it’s okay if you’re happy! It’s okay that you secretly hope we never find a way to make it possible for you to take it back!” “That’s not fair!” Pinkie sniffed and wiped her eyes. “I can’t just not be glad that I feel better. That doesn’t mean I don’t want you to feel better, too.” “But if you really had to choose one of us to hurt, you’d choose me.” Pinkamena turned her head away to hide the tears that were welling up. “I knew this was a bad idea,” she mumbled as she climbed out of the booth. “Don’t follow me.” Before the others could respond or try to stop her, Pinkamena stormed off and left the diner. Pinkie burst into sobs and dropped her head to the table. “I wouldn’t,” she mumbled between choked breaths. “I wouldn’t pick her. I know I wouldn’t.” Fluttershy rubbed her back softly, unsure of what to say. “I’m gonna go after her,” Marble said. “You sure that’s a good idea?” Spitfire asked. “No.” Marble stood up and made for the door. “You want my help?” Spitfire called out. “No, thank you,” Marble called back. After the door clicked shut, Spitfire eyed Pinkie and Fluttershy before awkwardly sidling out of her chair and heading to the bar to get some food. Pinkie coughed, and Fluttershy patted her back. “She didn’t mean it, Pinkie.” “Yes she did,” Pinkie said. “I’d know if she just wanted to hurt me. She really thinks I’d do that to her.” “You know you didn’t always see things right when you were upset.” “But…” Pinkie buried her head in her hooves. “But what if she was right? She knows me, Fluttershy. She knows how I think. I could always make up any ridiculous reasoning to justify thinking everypony else would do bad things, but she can’t do that for me. She knows all the bad thoughts I have.” “Pinkie, slow down.” Fluttershy squeezed Pinkie’s shoulders tight. “You’re letting your thoughts run away from you.” “But she knows, Fluttershy. I didn’t think straight when I was like her, sure, but that doesn’t mean I never thought bad things the rest of the time. I’m not a good pony, Fluttershy! I pretend I am, but she knows better, and you saw how much she hated me!” “She didn’t hate you, Pinkie, she was just hurting.” Pinkie shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. She was right. I would pick her.” “No, you wouldn’t. You’re a good pony, Pinkie.” “Am I? I know what the mirror pool does, I knew it was weird that I felt better after I fell in. If we never ran into her, I would’ve just lived the rest of my life being happy because she was out there somewhere hurting.” “I know you, Pinkie. If you knew she was there, you would have done everything in your power to help her.” “Like she said, that’s easy to say. We don’t know that. We don’t know I’m not a bad pony, we don’t know that—” She was cut off by the sound of a plate clattering onto the table in front of her. She looked up to see Spitfire, having just dropped a piece of pie in front of her. “Knock it off,” Spitfire told her. “H-Huh?” Pinkie wiped her tears away with a confused look. Spitfire pushed the pie towards her. “Quit talking. Quit thinking, even. Just eat the pie.” “But—” Spitfire lowered her glasses and glared. “No buts. I know a spiral when I see one. No use trying to course-correct, you just gotta drop it all and start from the top.” Pinkie looked blankly at her for a moment, then nodded and laughed through the tears. “Thanks, Spitfire. I needed that.” Marble stepped out into a light drizzle that had moved in while they were talking. It wasn’t much, not even enough to really muddy the ground, but it made the world feel cold and dark. The splash of a puddle caught her attention, and she turned to see Pinkamena walking away from the center of town. She ran to catch up and started walking beside Pinkamena without a word. “I said not to follow me.” “Well, I followed anyway.” Pinkamena sighed. “I’m sorry.” “I understand.” “I shouldn’t have let Fluttershy pull me in there.” Pinkamena kicked a pebble, and it splashed quietly into a nearby puddle. “I shouldn’t have let Pinkie find out about me. She could’ve just been happy.” “Mm.” “I just…” Pinkamena shook her head. “I didn’t wanna disappoint Fluttershy.” Marble didn’t say anything. “Why are you here?” Pinkamena looked at her. “I made Pinkie cry. You should hate me.” “We’ve all made Pinkie cry. I don’t hate Limestone.” “That’s different, though. She’s… She’s family.” “You’re family.” “I’m not Pinkie.” “Aren’t I lucky, then. I’ve got the best four big sisters in the world.” Pinkamena sighed and gave Marble a small smile. “Thanks.” Marble smiled back. “Mm-hm.”