//------------------------------// // Mirror Image // Story: A Show Full of Surprises // by Soothing Stone //------------------------------// “How could you?” Trixie growled, pounding the floor with a hoof. “What was she doing wrong? All she was doing was helping the Great and Powerful Trixie and Starlight with a show, and then YOU come in and do that!” She pointed right at Twilight. “I didn’t think she was going to run away like that!” Twilight admitted. “I had no idea she was still afraid she was going to go back to the Mirror Pool after all this time.”  “But what were you going to do after you told her?” mentioned Starlight. “Were you going to send her back? From what it sounds like, you did send the other clones back, even though Surprise acted nothing like them.” Twilight opened her mouth, but she wasn’t sure what to say right away. She glanced over at Pinkie, who was a little deflated, and Sunset. “I don’t know, if I’m honest. I never thought about what to do. I don’t think I would have sent her back, though.” “No matter what, the truth had to come out, sooner or later.” Sunset stepped up to face the music with Twilight. “How long did you know she was a clone, Trixie?” Trixie snorted and turned her head away. “Since the beginning. What does it matter? Was she hurting you? Was she going around, screaming ‘FUN!’ like the others? No, she was trying to help me. You just couldn’t accept that I made a friend you never did, could you, Twilight?” “Hey, we don’t need to turn it into that,” Starlight cut in. “We can’t fight right now. We have to do something about Surprise, right now. For all we know, she’s halfway across Equestria by now.”  In the meantime, Pinkie rubbed one of her forelegs and sighed. “I feel bad for her. We talked in Sugar Cube Corner, and she was like, a sister I didn’t know I had. Now I find out that I was kinda, sorta, being friends with myself. It was...weird, but I like her.”  Now it was Twilight sighing, and she rubbed her mane. “I should have handled it better, I’ll admit that. And Starlight’s right. We need to find her. I’m scared about what she might do to herself.” “I can help, too.” Sunset came up to Trixie and Starlight directly. “Look, I just figured Twilight had a right to know that Surprise was a clone. Nothing more. And I’ll help you find her.” “Me too,” Pinkie chipped in. “Anypony that’s nice and friendly like her deserves to have friends, not be scared they’re going back to the pool. Even if most pools are huge and awesome with slippy slides, the Mirror Pool isn’t that kind of pool…” Twilight gave her a pat on the back. “We’ll find her. I promise. It’s the least I can do after freaking her out. And I also promise I won’t send her back. She really isn’t like the other clones.” “I know. She’s better.” Even at a moment like this, Trixie just couldn’t help herself.  Usually, Twilight would roll her eyes at a comment like that, but she didn’t. Instead, she looked around the room. “Then maybe you should go searching for her with Starlight, Trixie. Sunset and I will do the same.” She turned over to Pinkie. “You can come if you want, too.”  “Why wouldn’t I? She needs a friend to look after her.” After a dirty glare from Trixie, she straightened up her posture. “Not that you’re a bad friend, but it doesn’t help to have even more friends looking out for her.” “That’s more like it. Now, time to find a Surprise,” Trixie proclaimed.  ----- Surprise had no idea how long she had been flying. Was it minutes? Hours? She lost track a long time ago. This might have been the time of day when she usually went to bed, but she was wide awake. As far as she was concerned, she had to be. They were going to catch her if she didn’t slow down. After all, Twilight was an alicorn now. She had wings to fly, too.  She flew so far out, she was a long ways away from any sign of civilization. There was nothing but forests and fields below her, and there wasn’t even a trace of a pony nearby. It was what she needed. All the while, though, she felt a twinge of pain in her frame. She knew why. It pained her so much to separate from Trixie and Starlight like that.  Eventually, she had no choice but to land on something. Her wings were finally tired after all that flying and fleeing. The feathers on them were straining from all the damage she put on them. She glanced to see what all she could rest on. There was a cloud ahead of her, just big enough for her to rest her weary head on. That’s all she needed. She descended down to land on it. The moment she could finally stop, all the strength left her body. All the anxiety and stress finally caught up to her.  She grumbled and cried at the same time on that cloud. Her face was buried hard into the pillowy surface of the cloud, and she couldn’t get up even if she tried. “This is all my fault for running away…” As far as she thought she flew, she realized it wasn’t that far away. Up ahead, she could see the cloud sculptures she made that morning. A lot of them were shaped just like Trixie and Starlight, two ponies she didn’t want to leave if she could help it. And yet, here she was. “Trixie should just hire Pinkie as her assistant,” she thought. “She’s the original, after all. I bet she’s in trouble with Twilight right now for trying to hide me away…” Another tear rolled down her face, and she sniffled from it all. This was too much. She had a headache more intense than anything she felt before, and she wasn’t sure what to do next. And then she thought about something in particular. It was a terrible idea, the last thing she wanted to do.  “I have to do it. It’s the only way Trixie stops being in trouble. I...just hope she remembers me.”  ------ The sun rose over the sleepy town of Ponyville. The search efforts were still underway, and Starlight found herself with Sunset Shimmer. Despite all the efforts they were putting in, she was still finding herself staring at the yellow unicorn.  They were on the main street, hanging up posters of the white pegasus for anypony to figure out if they had just seen them. Anytime they get a tip, the most they’d get is “I saw her at Trixie’s show last week”. That wasn’t going to cut it here.  Still, Sunset noted how close Starlight was to her at all times. Most of the time, she was fine with it. Her world’s version of Twilight could be like that, and her version of Pinkie was always like that. But she had a feeling it wasn’t for good reasons.  “Look, if you’re ticked off at me, just go ahead and say it,” said Sunset. “I can take it, and I probably deserve it.” “Yeah. I am upset at you,” Starlight admitted. “She was a good friend, you know? A little insecure, but now that I know what she really is, I don’t blame her.” Sunset took a deep breath and lifted her head up to the clouds. “I didn’t know any of this would happen, but I wasn’t sure how to handle it when I found out. It’s not everyday you find out somepony’s a clone of another pony like that. Then again, this is Equestria. One time, I stole Twilight’s crown just to gain power.” “That was you?” Starlight balked. “Must have been one hay of a crown if you did that. And that can’t compare to what I did. You know, enslaving an entire town just to get over fillyhood trauma. And then there’s Trixie.” “Cheated to beat Twilight in a magic duel, ruled over Ponyville with an iron hoof, and Twilight had to cheat right back to win?” “Yeah. Something like that.” That got Sunset to blink a few times. “Are you starting to think that Surprise might be the least weird pony among us? Despite, you know, her nature?” “Sunset, I thought that a long time ago. Still, we’re no closer to finding her. Do you have any ideas, any clues that I’m missing? This is like, as Applejack would say, finding a needle in a haystack.” “Let me think about it.” Sunset paused in the middle of her tracks, right after putting up another poster, and gave it some thought. Her mind went back to the vision she saw when she touched Surprise, from all the memories, good times, and fears she went through. One thing that stood out to her was much of Surprise’s mind thought about the Mirror Pool. How she came out of it, the fear of going back, watching the other clones get sent back. It took her a long time to come to the conclusion, but once she did, she gasped. “That’s not a good sign,” Starlight thought. “How bad are we talking?” “Let’s just say I’m wrong. You got paper and a quill?” Starlight pulled out said paper and a quill from her back. “Ever since I became Twilight’s pupil, I pretty much have to have these on me, 24/7. I’m guessing we’re sending a letter to her?” “Yeah. We have to move quickly.” ----- The Mirror Pool. For all of its mystical qualities, the power it contained that was like nothing else, it had a certain calmness to it. On the surface level, it looked like any old lake. It reflected just like water should do, and it even seemed to be the perfect swimming hole. And yet, it was the last place Surprise wanted to be. When she went into the cave that contained it, her heart was beating through the roof. Her body was screaming at her to leave, get away, do anything else. She should not be here. And then her mind took that last sentence to another extreme. Her reflection greeted her as she hovered her head above the pool. As much as she saw her own face as unique to Pinkie’s, with its yellow mane and white coat, all she saw was a photocopy of Pinkie Pie. That was fitting. She pretty much was just a photocopy at heart.  Her left front hoof lifted up, almost about to touch the water, but she pulled back at the last second. Even if she thought she had to do it, she was terrified by the idea. In fact, she sat down on her hindlegs and took a deep, labored breath. “I can do this. I can do this. Trixie needs me to do this. It will be fine. I’ll just be...back into…” She didn’t even want to finish that thought. She knew exactly what would happen when she jumped in. That’s why it was so terrifying to her. “I have to do this! Everypony’s upset at Trixie for hiding me, and I should have been zapped in the first place. Come on Surprise, you can do this!” She stood back up, and she lifted her hoof again. This time, the hoof drew closer to the pool than the first time. It was tempting to just jump in, get this over with, but something else happened. Something that startled her to the core. “And just what do you think you’re doing?” Trixie called out behind her.  “Ahhhh!” Surprise fell on her flank away from the pool, and she jumped around to see what was behind her. Sure enough, Trixie stood in front of her, both concerned and irritated in equal measures. “How...how did you…” “Sunset had a feeling you would be here. What are you trying to do here?” Trixie came up and cut the distance between them, and despite her arrogant demeanor, a little bit of a tear formed around her eyes. “Don’t you know I need you for my next show?” “But...I got you into trouble. I should have told them who I am a long time ago. I just want you to be okay.” Surprise twisted her head to stare at her reflection along the lake again. “I should have done this a long time ago.”  “NO!” Trixie used a spell to wrap Surprise in a magical aura, and she dragged the pegasus away from the pool towards her. “I mean...I really do need you. You can’t just go away like that. It’s not right.”  Surprise was taken aback from the amount of sentiment in Trixie’s tone, and she saw the blue unicorn do something she never saw her do before. A single tear went down Trixie’s face, and it dawned on her what was happening. “You do?” “Y-Yeah. Come on, we both know I can’t do this alone.” Trixie did her best confident smile, but she didn’t hide the tear, either. “After all, who’s a more glorious friend than you?” “But...didn’t I get you into trouble?” Surprise trembled, and she could see the Mirror Pool in the corner of her eye. “I just made a big mess of everything…” “No, she didn’t.” Among the shadows, Twilight came out of them and stood along with Trixie and Surprise. Soon after, Starlight, Sunset, and Pinkie came out with her. “I did. I had no idea what you were going through, and it’s my own fault for not handling it better.”  Surprise was still, well, surprised by the whole thing, and she glanced over to Pinkie. “But I made a mess of things for you! I remember when there were all those clones. We ruined almost everything in Ponyville.” “You didn’t,” Pinkie corrected her. “In fact, you were really fun to be around! I don't know how you’re a pegasus now, but that’s another story for another day. You’re not like the other clones at all. You actually say things other than ‘fun’!” While Sunset looked on nervously from the background, Starlight came to the forefront. “And it’s obvious you really care about Trixie. Doesn’t that count for something?” “It does if I can help it,” Trixie chirped, holding onto Surprise like a prized possession.  Still, as much as all that helped her mood, Surprise drifted her eyes over to Twilight. “Does that mean I’m still in trouble? I did lie about being a clo--” “No, Surprise. You’re not in trouble,” Twilight cut her off. “Pinkie, do you want to tell her the good news?” Pinkie grinned from cheek to cheek from the offer. She came up to Surprise and braced herself for the reaction she was about to get. “Surprise, you can stay here with us. You don’t have to go back to the Mirror Pool at all!”  At that moment, something changed within the pegasus. The pupils in her eyes shrunk to almost nothing, and she went completely still. Trixie waved a leg in front of her, but she didn’t get any reaction at all. “Is something wrong?” “You might want to take a few steps back,” Pinkie warned her. Right after that warning, everypony but Trixie moved back. “Am I missing something? Is this some weird Pinkie thing she’s about to do?” Right after she finished, Surprise shot up to the ceiling and cheered from the top of her lungs. “I GET TO STAY! I GET TO STAY!” She flew around the ceiling, doing loop de loops and all that stuff, and she almost created her own fireworks. “I can’t believe it! Oh Celestia, I’m so happy right now!” She dove in right after Trixie after that. “Oh...that Pinkie thing…” The next thing Trixie knew, she was wrapped in a hug that almost choked the air out of her lungs. Her eyes bulged from the hug, but she wasn’t going to stop it. In fact, she tried to pat Surprise on the head. And then Pinkie joined in on it. Of course she would. Before long, Surprise noted Starlight standing there with them, smiling gracefully. “Come on, it wouldn’t be a group hug without all my friends!” Surprise shouted. “Well, of course I’m in.” Starlight came in and joined the group hug, even if she saw Trixie’s cheeks turn red. “You might want to give Trixie some air.”  In the midst of all the hugging and cheering and good news, Sunset watched on from the sidelines. She knew Twilight would be thrilled with the whole sight, but she didn’t feel the same way. “Is it okay if I say something to her, princess?” Twilight tilted her head over to Sunset. “Sure. I don’t think she’s mad at you, if you’re worried about it.” “She’s not. I still feel like I should do this.” She went up to the little party developing in front of them, and she took a deep breath. “Hey, Surprise.” From that little greeting, Surprise finally broke off from the group hug and saw the yellow unicorn. “Hey, Sunset. Are you okay? Pinkie’s already thinking about a You Get To Stay party, if you wanna come.”  “I might. It’s just...I’m sorry.”  And then it was Surprise tilting her head. “For what?”  “For telling Twilight all about you. If I didn’t say anything, none of this would have happened. It’s kinda my fault.” That made Twilight wince, but she had a feeling Surprise would know just what to say.  “It’s okay, Sunset. Now that I’m thinking about it, I should have said something, too. It was really bad to keep that a secret for so long. I just didn’t say anything because I thought I’d get sent back without a chance. And now I know I’m wrong.” A weight came off Twilight’s chest from that little thought.  “Thank Celestia,” sighed Sunset. “I just figured I should tell you. Didn’t you say something about a You Get To Stay party?” “Indeed. But this time, I’m helping organize it,” Trixie chirped. “After all, it is the party for a great and powerful assistant.” “Hey, I can throw a good party for my friend!” yelled Pinkie. “Settle down, you two. I know we can make it fun,” Starlight smiled. “You coming, Sunset?” “You know I’m in.” Sunset went with them out of the cave. “By the way, you ever had lemon pie?” As they all left, Twilight smiled from the whole sight...noticing that Trixie was staring at the Mirror Pool with interest...and decided immediately to seal the cave off for good after this. No good could come out of multiple Trixies. Well, unless someone like Surprise came out of there.  Still, when she left, she was immediately fetching her parchment and quill. “I know you said I don’t have to do these anymore, Celestia,” she said to herself. “But after what I just saw, I get the feeling that you’ll want to hear about this one.”