It was a comparatively warm Winter’s day in Ponyville. Ponies of every sort wandered about the town as though it were midday in Summer. One Earth Mare in particular was in much higher spirits than everypony else. She had a coat of pale raspberry and a mane and tail of a much more vivid shade of the same colour. Her cerulean eyes beamed with joy as she stotted about the snow-covered town centre, greeting every passing mare, stallion, and foal.
“Hi!” greeted she, standing before an elderly Earth Stallion in a gray jacket. “How are you today, Tinker?"
Everything about the stallion showcased his age: his ultramarine eyes shone with experience, his coat had a copper hue to it, and his mane had faded to gray many years before. “I’m as good as I can be, I suppose,” replied he. He then blinked and squinted to better view the pony before him. “Say, haven’t we already talked today?” asked he, mildly confused.
The pink mare cocked her head, just as confused. “I don’t think so, Tink. It must’ve been somepony else.”
“No,” politely disagreed Tinker, “it must have been you.” He paced around the mare as he named features. “The bouncy mane, bubbly smile, and the Cutie Mark. It had to have been you I talked to just a minute ago. Wait.”
“What is it?”
The copper stallion put a hoof on the mare’s back and asked bluntly, “where’d your wings go?”
The statement only confused the mare further. “Wings? What wings? I’ve never had wings.”
Tinker nodded. “I see. If you’re not the mare I talked to, then who are you?”
“I’m Pinkie Pie, remember? I work at Sugarcube Corner.” The mare pointed a hoof in the general direction of the shop she mentioned.
The stallion nodded again. “Right, right,” said he. “How foolish of me; old, colourblind, and now it appears as though I’m losing memory. Terribly sorry, Pinkie Pie; I’ll be on my way now.” With the apology, the stallion went on about his business.
“Hmm, that was weird,” remarked the mare to herself as she trotted along, soon resuming her previous gait.
Pinkie Pie greeted about a dozen more ponies before she came to a pale green Earth Mare who was struggling to carry three rather sizeable crates on her back.
“Excuse me,” said the pink mare, “but could you use an extra hoof carrying those boxes?”
The mare, whose eyes were closed as she slowly trudged forward, declined. “No, thank you,” said she strenuously. “You asked me already, but thanks for your concern.”
Another statement that perplexed Pinkie, she cocked her head as she followed the other mare. “While I am concerned for you, I haven’t even seen you before today; how could I have asked you anything?”
The other mare kept moving, albeit slowly, as she spoke. “Yeah, it was you; I remember your voice. Is your memory alright, Sweetie? I’d have that checked out if I were you.” With that statement, the mare sped up slightly and went on her way, leaving a baffled pink mare behind her.
“What the hay just happened?” asked the pink mare to herself. Her thoughts were interrupted by a young stallion’s voice, calling her way.
“Surprise! Oi, Surprise!” called the stallion as he galloped toward the pink mare. He was a rather lanky young Earth Stallion with vibrant colours all about him: his eyes were a bright golden yellow, his jade green coat shone, and a short lavender blue mane whipped his face as he ran. He tried to slow down, but tumbled head over hooves several times in the snow, landing about half a metre away from Pinkie Pie.
The mare jumped as the spectacle, and then offered a hoof to the cyan stallion. “That was a surprise, alright. Speaking of alright, are you?”
The stallion groaned as he took Pinkie’s hoof and stood up. Panting, he replied, “yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.” He then looked at the mare before him and drew back slightly. “Oh, sorry,” said he, “I thought you were someone else, Pinkie Pie.”
In response, the mare cocked her head. “Who’d you think I was, Perry?”
The stallion shook his head to clear his thoughts. “There’s this pony,” explained he. “She looks a lot like you; her name’s Surprise. I was trying to find her so I could thank her for helping me this morning. Have you seen her?”
Pinkie shook her head. “Nope,” said she, “but apparently she’s been here; Tinker apparently just saw her a few minutes ago, and so did Roseluck.”
The stallion nodded. “I see, I see. I must be on the right track, then. I have to find her. I’ll see you later, Pinkie.”
“Later, Periwinkle,” replied she as the stallion trotted off. “Well,” mused she, “now I’ve got a name. Apparently there’s some Pegasus Pony Pinkie Pie running around Ponyville.” She then gasped as she thought to herself, “I could ask Rainbow Dash! She’s always in the sky; she’ll be able to point out a pony in a pack.” She then ran at full gallop toward the nearest cloud mass.
Pinkie Pie looked about the sky for her cyan friend. She scanned every nearby cloud, and then moved to the next mass to search. She repeated the process three more times.
“What are you looking for, Pinkie?” asked a raspy female’s voice from behind the pink mare.
Pinkie yelped, startled by her friend’s voice. She turned to see the cyan Pegasus Mare for whom she was searching. “How’d you do that, Dashie?!” asked Pinkie, her heart racing.
The mare chuckled at the display. “I did learn from the best,” answered she with a nudge to her pink friend. She stood about the same height as the pink mare, her mane of multiple colours in stripes moved slightly from the light Winter breeze, and her rose eyes shone with pride.
Pinkie returned the chuckle as she slowly began to calm. “Yeah; you did. Anyway, I was looking for you so you could look for somepony I’m looking for.”
The mare chuckled yet again. “Easy. Just tell me what they look like and I’ll find them for you before you can say please.”
Pinkie told Rainbow Dash what she knew about the mare she sought to find. The cyan Pegasus nodded and took to the sky, holding her friend in her hooves beneath her.
The pair scanned the town for two minutes until they found who Pinkie thought to be the unknown mare. Rainbow decreased her altitude to get a better look. The mare was a Pegasus with light orchid eyes, a pearl white coat and a fluffy, curly mane and tail of light yellow. On, the mare’s flank were three party balloons that matched her eyes, much like those on Pinkie Pie. She was also standing next to a light mulberry Unicorn Mare. Her straight-cut, sapphire blue mane and tail bore streaks of moderate violet and brilliant rose colours, and her violet eyes beamed with curiosity.
Both mares looked up to see Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash descending toward them. “Hi, Girls!” beamed the purple mare with a smile as she waved to her two friends.
“Hey, Twilight!” beamed the cyan and pink mares in return. “Who’s your friend?” asked the latter.
“I’m Surprise!” beamed the pearl mare in a voice that sounded exactly like that of the pink mare. She held a hoof to the two ponies, who accepted.
The pair introduced themselves to Surprise with enthusiasm. Pinkie Pie, after she had stated her name, she stared at the white mare, who stared back. They craned their heads in a way that mirrored the other. “And what a surprise this is,” stated the pink mare, “you look just like me!”
“And you sound just like me,” stated Surprise.
Twilight Sparkle was speechless for several seconds as her view darted from one mare to the other. “Incredible,” said she in astonishment. “I mean, I thought she looked a bit like you, Pinkie. But, now that you’re standing right next to each other, the resemblance, sans the colours, is uncanny! Your voices are almost identical as well! I can’t even begin to explain how unlikely this is!”
“Chill out, Twilight!” urged Rainbow Dash, who stood beside the lavender unicorn. “So they look and sound a bit alike; what of it?”
Twilight looked to her cyan friend, as though her fascination were obvious. “Look at their Cutie Marks, Rainbow,” ordered she quietly, so that only the mare to whom she was talking would hear.
Rainbow rolled her rose eyes, and then glanced at the mares’ flanks. Her eyes widened after a few seconds of comparing. “Whoah,” said she, at a loss for words.
“They’re exactly the same.”