Hookay! Works done, gotta head for Twilight's! No distractions! Had a few other slip-ups at Sugarcube Corner, but managed to get everything done on time, so gotta focus and get things done. Mrs Cake seemed a little upset, but she seemed to accept that I just had a hard day yesterday.
I started heading out, and had gotten a good pace on, forward a few blocks, then the first turn, three more blocks-- hm, I don't seem to be... I mean, I know everypony in Ponyville, and that means I had to also know every street in Ponyville, but I don't remember these houses being on the way to Twilight's tree house. Hm.
Going back to retrace my steps, it seems I took a wrong turn..... left instead of right...
Okay, Super-serious this time. Gotta use my shortcut. I close my eyes, hide behind a lamp post, step forward, aaaaaaaaaaaand... Done! OK, there's Twilight's place. The door slides into the wall this time, but I've seen it do other things, so I may just be still feeling silly...
"Oh, hi Pinkie Pie! What brings you to the library today?"
"Hey, Twilight. Uhm... I... still feel really really bad about that whole mirror thing, and I think I might be just a little teeny tiny bit anxious about the whole thing. I was able to get through your super-clever Pinkie Pie Test, because that paint was lavender, like your coat, so I was really super-focused on wanting to stay with you and the other girls, it just seemed super-scary to think about.... well, whatever happens to reflections when they... go away..." I felt my ears droop, thinking about the other Pinkies, wondering where they were now.
"Well, alright; you just wait here, I'll get some tea, and we can talk more about it. Oh, Spiiiiiiike!" she called for her little dragon-buddy as she walked into the next room to get things ready. I took a calming breath, feeling I could trust Twilight to use her super-smarts to find a sure-fire way to put my mind at ease, like when she pointed out how that cake she got me said --- OOH! Shiny gilded books, lemme see--- wait, where was I. Ah, cake! My brithday cake that said ǝıd ǝıʞuıd ʎɐpɥʇɹıq ʎddɐɥ ... wait...
... Why are all the letters in this book backwards? ........ Ahhhhh! Uhm.... ahm... well, this could get awkward. Uhm... agh, Twilight came back, play it cool...
"Spike'll have the tea ready shortly. Now I know you don't like 'bitter' things, and as much as I know you like sweets, I think it'll help to calm your nerves to go easy on the sugar and try some tea," she said.
"YES. I like sweets. And not bitter icky things. Because I am Pinkie Pie. The real one." ...Wow, way to go, brain. Clop. Clop. Clop.
"Oh my, you must still be pretty shaken up. Well, it was only just yesterday; I'm actually kinda surprised that you went back to work so soon."
Whew, okay, that was too close.
"Pastries wait for nopony, Twilight!" I said. "I had to start the new day on the left hoof!"
"Isn't it 'on the right'?"
"No, that's the salt."
"Wait, what is?"
"The one I wasn't right on."
"I thought you said it was right."
"I wasn't right, it was."
"Wait, the salt was right?"
"Precisely. Except it wasn't."
"Then what was it?"
"It's on second."
"Second?"
"Well, that's in that other story, but I like The Third one, too."
"There's a third one now? And is it right?"
"Yeah, he's alright."
"...........who?"
"First base!"
"..........................."
".............. SO! How about that tea?!"
Right on cue, Spike came in, balancing a tea set in one of his claws --- shame I didn't ask that other Pinkie how she made those thingies on her hoof, that looked neat! I wonder what sort of FUN things I could-- hey! Focus! Clever Pony at 12-o-clock! Don't blow it!
By now, Twilight had magic'ed the cups and poured for all of us, Spike included, who took his cup as he went back into the Library's main area. I caught the tail end of it as Twilight even poured a dollop of honey into my cup and stirred it in. Cautiously, I took a small sip... it did feel nice. Like warm cider, if sort of earthy from the lack of sugar I was used... well, that Pinkie was used to...
"So, Pinkie: what's on your mind?"
I had put myself in a pickle, coming here, only to realise that I might not be.... and I don't need Pinkie Sense to guess what would result. I decided to go with that.
"... what... what do you think happens to reflections, when we move away from the mirror?"
"You mean the other Pinkies."
"Yeah..."
"Well, after you showed me the cave and we sealed it with Tom, I didn't really stop to check what exactly were the properties of that pond. Even so, I could tell there was powerful magic flowing through that area, on top of everything else around. Though if I had to guess: the other Pinkies were magical constructs, based on some kind of old mirror magic, or a come-to-life spell cast on a reflection itself."
"So... do you think they, like... were?"
"I am.... not really sure. A relfection only really shows what's on the surface. And a bunch of mirrors together only show the same thing over and over, fading as it runs out of the origional light. From what Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash said, you and that first clone seemed pretty, erm, normal-for-you, but from what you said, once they started using the Mirror Pool on themselves, they started getting more single-minded and reptitive. Since that was you you at the cafe, you could feel sadness and have a bit of an identity crisis, while the others couldn't, because you didn't feel sad when you used the mirror-- at least not until they started using it on their own. So, they problably are not proper, complete beings, and any reflection's eventually going to be lost when the origional moves away: if I had to guess, they're bascially "nothings" pretending to be something, honestly beliving it, but cannot truly be. I might be wrong though, so I'm afraid I can't really get much more information right now, unless I unseal the cave."
"Uhm... I thin- er, I think we should leave it closed for now, not get too close..."
"Wait a minute, Twilight!"
Spike had come back, teacup in one claw, and a red book with a golden plate on the front. For some reason, looking at the book made me feel a bit unnerved... I think it's time I made my escape. And do some thinking