//------------------------------// // Chp. 11 + 12: DOUBLE CHAPTER, OMG! // Story: The Dark Side // by Lord Xaos //------------------------------// The Dark Side, Chapter 11 rewrite + Chapter 12 Combo Chapter! By Lord Xaos. I don’t own My Little pony. Based off of Sgt. Sprinkles’ story “Cupcakes” multitude references, I’m an unoriginal whore, etc, etc. Another shadow-space conversation was taking place in the Darkest Grove. “And then I’ll be showing some footage of the Wonderbolts! Oh my gosh, I’m getting excited, are you excited? I’ve never been so excited, except maybe for the time that I went ‘kill, kill, kill, mom, mom, mom…’, but really, who could top that?” “Yeah…Shadamena? No. I’ve got better things to do than be your sick surgery doll.” “Anyway, that’s when I’ll bring out the harvesting tools and…” “I said no!” “Huh? S-Shadash?” “I’ve been on board with your plan so far, but I’m skipping out of this phase, and getting on to the part where I get to play. ” “OH COME ON! It’s not like it’ll hurt! And besides, you get so thoroughly in character when you’re with Pinkie Pie, It’s almost like you’re actually are sad for your friend!” “And if I follow through on this, I’ll have to wait for you to sew my organs back in before I can do that, and Pinkie might get here and you’ll have to throw me somewhere out of sight and I’ll have to wait even LONGER…And I’m not sure I approve of ANY situation that involves me being tied up by you.” “But…Dashie will wake up any minute now! What am I supposed to do? Tell ghost stories? And how do I explain your disappearance?” “Use a Dream Rainbow Dash.” “There. Are. none! I can’t use Rainbow Dash’s memories to produce a Rainbow Dash reflection!” “Actually…you can. Thanks to your amazing foresight.” “…I don’t understand.” “Look, sweetie. You’re some kind of moron, so I’ll explain it to you nice and slow. With your little singing concert last night, you created a brief, half-forgotten nightmare, but created one just the same. It included…this.” “GASP!” “Yep. It was less than a second, but somehow you thought to do something not useless and project an image from Pinkie’s Nightmare to the one you gave Dash last night. Well, have fun with that. I’m off!” “W-wait! What am I supposed to do with a victim whose already dead?” “You’re creative. I’m sure you can find SOMETHING horrifying…” “But…This scene benefits you as well! How can you just turn your back on this opportunity?” “You forget. 99% of the reason I’m doing this is because I hate your guts. And…this scene is SO intense, that when Dash finds out I was part of this, it might compromise our…relationship.” “Relationship? You want to take her over!” “And the best way to do that is to convince her that I know what’s best for the both of us. That It’s us against the world. That I was always right. And If I go through with this, that will throw all of that into question!” “But…” “And speaking of being right, I’m going to leave now and see if I can’t find some trace of you in that Saccharine little brat you call a light side. This is the part of your plan that doesn’t suck. Because you have to be in there somewhere. Anyway, I’m spreading the fog to Pinkie’s location now. Have fun playing with dolls! Later!” “WAIT! YOU GET BACK HERE! rrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAaAARRRRRRRRGGGGGG!!!!” Pinkie Pie had started to regain some of her color. Her mane was still straight, but it was just barely starting to curl. She had cracked the riddle of this Shadow Ponyville: -The entire town was flipped over, so that things that were on the eastern side of town in her Ponyville were on the western side here, and vice versa. -The streets were also inverted, so that when she was looking at the dinner from the playground, it seemed to have been in the exact correct place, slowing down Pinkie’s revelation that something was wrong. However, the town couldn’t hide the street signs from her! Pinkie was so proud of herself. “Take that, you stupid town! I AM a smart pony!” Pinkie hoof-pumped the air, a broad smile on her face. And now that she knew where everything was, she could head straight for…straight for… Gulp. Sugarcube Corner. (Even if her Doppelganger wasn’t there, the cupcakes would be. …Oh, and Pinkie would have NO idea where to look for Sweetie Belle.) It was about that time that the fog started rolling in. Pinkie took note of the pinchy feeling she was getting in her knees. Suddenly, a shadow dashed over her. She looked up to the sky just in time to see… Pinkie screamed as a something Rocketed right towards her at an insane speed! She hit the dirt and covered her head with her hooves, not certain what in the world was happening now. There was a moment of silence, unsettling in contrast to the sudden start she had just been given a moment ago. “Hello, Pinkie.” A much-too-calm voice spoke. Pinkie uncovered her head and looked up. “D-dashie?” All was Darkness. All was pitch black nothingness. She slept a dreamless sleep. Not aware of anything in the world. If one were listening to her thoughts, they might be inclined to ponder, just from the silence, if she was dead. A flicker of consciousness began to decipher the sensations it felt. Her back muscles were sore and uncomfortable, it was probably this discomfort that hinted to her she was actually alive. She felt warm on top, but cold on bottom, like she had been wrapped on. She thought she smelled the scent of some kind of polish…wait….wait…what WERE all these strange, barely noticeable smells? Also…why was it so hot? And bright? Then, Rainbow Dash opened her eyes. Light flooded in, and she looked down, away from the light. As the spots cleared, she saw that her forelegs and wings were wrapped up in a straight jacket. She was tied to something. It took her a moment to adjust to the twin lamps shining down on her from on high…but something was RIGHT in front of her face. Dash blinked to clear the spots before her eyes and focused on the dark frame before her. She finally began to make out its features…. And she immediately screamed. Staring her in the face was a pair of eyes sticking out of a skull. It was a pony, whose face had been skinned right out, revealing the white bone, intermingled with red muscle and Gums and bloodshot eyes staring blankly into her soul! The skullpony had a Rainbow Mane. And then, from the darkness of the room, another pony with what looked like her face stepped into view. She seemed to be wearing some kind of dress, her wings outstretched. “Oh! You’re awake! I was wondering when you were ever going to awake. You slept through all that screaming and junk, I was starting to worry!” the other other Rainbow Dash said in a high, excited, girly voice. Rainbow screamed again. There were too many hers, and at least one of which had a skull for a face. When she was done screaming she looked away from both of them. She felt a presence near her. They were carrying something. “Daaaash. Lookie what I got.” The girly voice called. Dash didn’t move at first…but she opened her eyes and looked out the corner of them at whatever was in front of her. The Skullpony was right in her face! Rainbow wasn’t sure when her head turned so that she was facing the front again, but she was, her lip quivering. “P-please get that away from me” She pleaded in a small voice. “I don’t like looking at it.” “Aw…but she loves you!” the unknown tormenter teased. Rainbow shut her eyes, not able to look anymore. “In fact, she wants to give you a kiss!” Rainbow opened her eyes in shock, but too late to do anything. Instantly, the carcasses’ teeth were rubbing up against Rainbow. “Mmmm’wha!” Rainbow felt moist gums press against her lips, and something drip out of the stitched-up doll’s eye sockets onto her. Rainbow let out an angry, anguished cry. She shook her head and spat, trying to get rid of the strange, slimy stuff that covered her face. “You don’t have to be rude. It’s okay, Dashie, don’t feel sad. She’ll warm up to you eventually. Isn’t that right, Da-…hey, its hard keeping track of which Dashie you are. Well, aside from the whole, Alive-Dead thing. So, you have some kind of nickname for yourself, or should I just call you ‘Nopony?’” Rainbow was having trouble listening, she seemed fixated on those dead, unblinking eyes… “Why do I need a nickname? Th-there’s three Rainbow Dashes here, maybe you need a nickname!” Except for the studder, that was very nearly showing her who's boss. Rainbow Dash’s inner critic noted. Shut up.Rainbow fired back. “Whaa? …OOOOOhhhhh!” The other other Dash’s eyes dawned in realization. The newcomer peeled off her own face to reveal…Pinkie Pie! Rainbow’s eyes dilated in shock. But then…it was all coming back to her now. Riiight, she got caught. “P-pinkie?” The blue Pegasus was looking down at Pinkie, expressionless. “I’ve just returned from Sugarcube Corner. I couldn’t find Sweetie Belle. I tore down that door you been keeping locked ever since you got the place to yourself, but it was just a perfectly normal basement.” “But…” Pinkie was bewildered. “I’m positive that’s where she kept all her horrible trophies! There’s nowhere else in the shop she could’ve hidden them. And if Sweetie Belle was not somewhere in the shop, then…where is she?” “Yes, Pinkie. Tell me.” “Dashie?” “TELL ME WHERE!” Dash roared. The look in her eyes became far less reasonable. “I don’t know!” Pinkie pleaded, tears welling up in her eyes. “I thought you understood…We’re not the same pony! She could be anywhere!” “I think I understand...even better than you do.” Rainbow Dash said in that eerily calm voice which had returned. “If you don’t know…I’ll just have to ask the other Pinkie” Rainbow took to the sky, disappearing into the fog. “Yes! That’s what I’ve been telling you! I don’t know where she-“ Pinkie was cut off as she gasped! “Whaa?” Pinkie started, staring at the safe that had come crashing out of the sky and landed right in front of her! She didn’t see it coming at all. Her tail didn’t twitch. She had abandoned her tail back at the hospital. She was too frightened to return, and too pressed for time to do anything but look for Sweetie Belle. “DASHIE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” The voice from the mist repeated. “Saving Sweetie Belle.” “WHAT DOES TRYING TO KILL ME HAVE TO DO WITH SWEETIE BELLE!?” Pinkie cried back “….You’re not the Pinkie I want to talk to. Hurry up and transform.” Pinkie’s eye twitched. “THAT! MAKES! NO! SENSE!” “Hee hee! Do you like it?” Pinkie giggled, holding up Rainbow’s face, which sagged without eye sockets. The sight caused Rainbow to vomit onto the floor…which Rainbow just noticed was covered with some kind of mat. Rainbow thought she saw the emblem of a Snail on it, but she couldn’t really tell what with the darkness…and the vomit. “Oh Dashie…you made such a mess. Fortunately, I thought ahead, and I’ll clean that up later.” Pinkie pushed the vomit-covered mat away. “I just made this before I tried waking you up! And look!” The pink pony placed the mask made she had been wearing over the skull-face of the taxidermied Rainbow, it fit nearly perfectly, except for it appearing a little baggy in places. “Ta-daa! It still fits!” Pinkie hugged the dead Rainbow Dash. “Yep! You were really out of it. I’ve been having lots and lots of fun with the other Dashie!” “….What did you DO to her?” Dash asked in a quiet voice. She was eyeing the bloody stumps where there should’ve been wings. There were stitched all along the back, starting from the left wing’s stump. The lamps went off, leaving Rainbow in the darkness. Then, a spotlight came on, revealing Pinkie’s body. The dress she was wearing was white and poofy, like clouds. However, on her back where two sky-blue wings. “Do you like it? You were out for suuuuch a long time, I had to get creative to pass the time. So, I made a new dress. My other one is fancier, but this one makes me feel so pure and innocent…ah..” Pinkie took a moment to pose like a little princess. Rainbow would’ve thrown up, but she had done that already. “Oh, and look at my chest!” Pinkie stood on her hind legs, revealing am emblem on her chest. It was Dash’s cutie marks. Cut away from all the blue, the chromatic lightning bolts emerged out of there clouds, the bottom of their trails touching one another, joining the two lightning bolts in a union that could’ve never been had Dash’s body never been defiled. Rainbow couldn’t see the other Dash clearly, but she couldn’t fight the curiosity to look at her flanks. “B-b-but why? I know she stabbed you, but you saw that coming with an armored vest that squirts fake blood!…and she was sorry! She was crazy, but you’re…you’re a monster! You’ve…she…she was right to be afraid of you!” “Oh…so she was right to try and kill me? Is that what you’re saying?” “Sh-she was trying to retain her sanity! She was frightened but she thought she might’ve been wrong! She did not come here planning to hurt you! And…and you knew that! I didn’t know what was going on, but I figured it out! She probably just wanted to scare you away and run out the door, but she was too busy freaking out to run! And YOU! You had already SOMEHOW thought to armor yourself from her blow and then you subdued her! All you had to do at the most was call the police!…or even the Cakes! Nopony had to die unless you…you…” Rainbow was losing focus from the sudden appearance of a sad expression on Pinkie’s face. While Rainbow had stopped talking to stare at her, Pinkie shot in. “The Cakes are dead. Don’t you remember?” Whaaaaaaaa? But…this morning…who…what…how? Oh wait, this isn’t my Ponyville. This could be a trick…but…but… Rainbow Dash, awestruck, just spoke the words “I’m sorry.” “Sorry!?” Pinkie’s voice was angry again. “Oh, sure, first you take the side of my attacker and then insensitively remind me of Mr. and Mrs. Cake, but I GUESS ‘SORRY’ MAKES IT ALL BETTER, HUH?” Pinkie had stepped out of the spot light and was pressing her shadow-covered face up against Rainbow’s. “I…I…” Rainbow stammered. Then Pinkie chortled and started giggling. Rainbow’s eyes went wide. “You’re really too fun! It’s okay Dashie, you don’t have to worry about hurting my feelings. I’m over the sad, sad, SAD incident with the Cakes….” Not sure of anything, Rainbow decided to change the subject with a question. “W-what are you going to do to me?” “Well…Maybe I’ll keep you for a while, your number only came up once after all, and you’re kind of invisible and junk.” “My….number?” Rainbow was thoroughly confused. “Oh Dashie… How long do you think I’ve been up to this?” Pinkie smiled and flipped a switch. A head light hummed to life and illuminated the rest of the room which had been enveloped in darkness from the contrast of the two lamps, and later the bright spotlight. “Oh no.” It felt like the room was spinning Painted Skulls. Foals wearing party hats made from their own flesh. Tables made from bones, decorations made from organs, a banner made from skin with blood letters that read “Life is a Party!” the light seemed to have served to only make the room much darker….. “Welcome to my cave, Dashie! RAAAAARRRRR!” Pinkie really missed her tail. She didn’t like this new experience at all. SLAM! Pinkie, who had been bouncing around as fast as she could until now, froze and looked out the corner of her eye at a stone lawn ornament that had landed right next to her. If it had been even an inch further to the left… Of course, Pinkie had taken a few bruises and cuts from some of the lighter objects that came at her in an arc. Those Dash seemed to throw in flurry, making them more likely to hit Pinkie. She had a nasty bruise next to her tail where the wrench hit. “Dashie…” her pleas came out much too softly. She tried again, straining her voice to be heard: “DASHIE! PLEASE STOP THIS! YOU’RE REALLY GOING TO -KILL- ME!” “Hee heee heee…” “THIS ISN’T FUNNY, DASHIE!” “Hehehehehehe…” The insane laughter from the sky continued, making Pinkie shiver. “Please…AT LEAST EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING!” The laughter stopped. A small segment of mist split as Rainbow beat her wings and made herself visible. She was smiling…but it wasn’t a happy smile. It was a very sad one. “I had hoped that scaring you would be enough. But I guess I’ll have to move on to phase two.” “Ph-phase two?” Pinkie trembled. “D-dashie, please stop confusing-“ “And another thing! Stop calling me Dashie. Sorry, Pinkie, but really…you’re kind of disgusting. I mean, your pitiful how you got this other innocent, NON-MURDEROUS, personality, but even she’s getting on my final nerve.” “W-what?” Pinkie felt her colors draining away again. No! …Suddenly, they came back. Rainbow seemed to notice this. She seemed to regard Pinkie with a curious, but extremely cautious expression. Pinkie stared back at Dash with a suddenly confident-looking face. Rainbow’s eyes widened. And then, Pinkie raised her hooves and pulled her cheeks apart while she stuck her tongue between her teeth and went “Blblbbllblblble” No…she doesn’t mean that. I’ll bet she doesn’t mean that! If I just surprise her by being me, I can catch her off guard and then she’ll be too busy laughing to keep saying these mean things! Rainbow gaped, blinked, ….and then smiled warmly Rainbow wrapped her foreleg around Pinkie. D-dashie… Pinkie’s eyes watered with tears of joy. “In fact, since you’re both the same pony, we’d really be better off with you dead.” Rainbow stated with a coldness that did NOT match her smile. Pinkie Pie was shocked, and let out an appalled gasp. But…she finally understood what was going on in Rainbow’s mind. “D-dash, no…I’m sorry I was messing around! It wasn’t appropriate for-” And then Rainbow Dash slammed Pinkie’s head into the wall! “Heheehehe. Hey, Dash, look who I got here!” Pinkie head a yellow-and-blue painted skull with a beak in one hoof. “It’s Gilda!” “G-gilda? But that’s not possible! She left Ponyville immediately! And you couldn’t have tracked her down!” “Oh, I have my methods.” Pinkie grinned. “I actually drew a number that I forgot to assign a pony too, so I thought ‘hmm…this is a pickle. Whatever should I do now?’ And then I thought of the most Meany Mean Meanypants Griffon ever! And I decided it had to be her number. The rules weren’t really clear on that.” “Rules?” Rainobw blinked. “Oh, let’s not talk about that, it’s a long, boring story.” Pinkie grabbed the Dash Doll with her free hoof. “Hey Dash, lets hang out together!” Pinkie did a grouchy impression of Gilda’s voice as she waggled the skull around. “Sure thing, Gilda! I’d love to show you my new flying moves!” Pinkie did a scratchy voice, and then she threw the Dash Doll into the air, where it of course fell to earth and crashed, making Dash cringe. “Graceful, Dash.” Gilda-Pinkie snarked. “Let’s see you do any better, Gilda!” Pinkie-Dash shot back. “Alri-“ “STOP!” Rainbow wanted to raise a hoof, but she was of course, tied up in the straight jacket. A straight jacket…like she was the one who was insane here. “Please…don’t throw her!" I…don’t even understand the nature of this world, but I just can’t let herrrrrr- Rainbow's train of thought trailed off. Pinkie Pie had stopped. She returned her attention to Rainbow Dash with mischievous eyes. Rainbow immediately regretted the attention. (Also, She realized that the position her forelegs were in under the straightjacket was exactly perfect to hug herself, rocking back and forth screaming something along the lines of “NO, PINKIE! NO! PLEASE NO! PLEASE, PLEASE NO!” But no…Dash still had her pride. …Oh, shut up. Little pink ponies giving actual earth-shattering dragon roars do not count. That’s just cheating.) Who knew what was going to happen to her now? It was going to be something horrible-she just knew it! Rainbow’s mind flooded with horrible possibilities with how she was going to be slowly murdered…Surely nothing could be worse than… “Whoa…its another Dash!” Gilda-Pinkie said. “I know, isn’t this exciting? Are you excited, Gilda? I’ve never been so excited- it makes me want to sing! No wait….” Pinkie grabbed the Doll Dash. “Gotta make em’ Dance!” Rainbow found that she was tied to some sort of trolley as Pinkie spun her around and played with her macabre toys all while dancing to and singing. “Whoa, that’s a full rainbow… Double rainbow, OMG!” “Pinkie! Stop it! I’m getting dizzy!” Dash cried as she was spun around and around in her cart and eventually fell on her nose. “OW!” Pinkie’s head was throbbing. The world was spinning but regained just enough focus to slip out of Dash’s grip and walk unsteadily backwards, away from the murderous pegasus. “Ra…” Pinkie had to stop. She put a hoof up to her head. “Ahhh….Rainbow...” “Have I awakened you yet!? WHERE’S SWEETIE BELLE!? TELL ME WHERE SHE IS RIGHT NOW, YOU MONSTER!” The noise caused Pinkie to cringe. It was not helping her headache. “Stop…you’re making a mistake…” Pinkie couldn’t quite manage to shout back. “SHUT UP!” Dark Dash yelled. She landed and crouched, and began stepping forward everytime Pinkie stepped back. Pinkie tried stopping, and Dash also mirrored that action by crouching. However, even crouching, Dash swayed back and forth, and each feather in her wing bristled. She had this eerie grin on her face. “eheheehe…I’m not afraid of you…you transform right now! I’ll beat the answers out of you!” “Dash…Please stop!” Pinkie pleaded. She was trying to control her breathing…crying hadn’t been helping so far. “Did you show Sweetie Belle any mercy when you took her away from her sister!? DID YOU!? Ehehehehehehe….what’s the matter Pinkie? Are you scared of me now that you have a pony you can’t trick?” “I don’t want to hurt you! E-even though you hurt me, I really, really don’t! So please!” Pinkie sat on her haunches and looked at Rainbow! “…listen to reason. We’re not the same pony! She has a different body and everything! She is not physically here, Rainbow!” “Oh yes. Listening to reason says that YOU’RE CRAZY!” Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof at Pinkie. “Face it, Pinkie, the only explanation that makes sense is that you get these sudden urges and then you can’t cope with the ugliness of reality so you hide the truth from yourself!” Dash stepped forward, taking the initiative. Pinkie stepped back. Crouch-walking after Pinkie like a jungle cat stalking its prey, Rainbow continued. “You know where Sweetie Belle is…and I’m quite tired of this stupid, saccharine personality you’ve been putting up. I want to talk to the real Pinkie!” Rainbow took leaned back instead of stepping forward. “Riiight….” Pinkie started stumbling backwards even faster now… “NOOOOW!” Rainbow pounced after Pinkie! Pinkie bounded away and ran. Well…so much for talking my way out of that. I need to get away! Nopony is going to protect me…I knew my friends would if they could but…They can’t. So…I need to find my own way out of this nightmare. Pinkie ran into the fog. But heard the beating of wings coming from behind her. Rainbow was scattering the fog. Hey…wait. THAT’S IT! Well…at least the dancing stopped. Dash told herself again. She hadn’t said anything out loud, as the current spectacle before her was so very revolting. After barfing up the apple earlier, Rainbow wasn’t sure she had anything else to vomit, but she was taking no chances. Pinkie was relating to her a most ……wonderful… tale of what all she had done to the other Rainbow Dash. She had removed the stitches and opened the flaps of skin to reveal a dried out-although still very much bloodstained ribcage. Well…also ichor-stained, bile-stained, reflux-stained, and frosting-stained. But lets not get bogged down in the details. Pinkie had categorically preserved AND replaced all the organs she took out of Doll-Dash, and was replacing them “And that’s when she emptied her bowels again! Actually, I thought I cleaned it all up, but now that I think about it, doesn’t it still smell a little bit like pee in here? Oh well, I’ll fix that up later….oh wait…wait….Daaasshie, is that you?” Huh?…oh shit! When did that happen!? I mean…there seriously was that long period where it felt like I was having an out of body experience when she was talking about cutting other me open when she was numbed so she could watch it but…aarrrggg why now of all times? “Aw…don’t cry, Dashie, I’ll clean it up! Hee hee… You’re such a messy pony! What would Scootaloo think?” “Shut up! You’ve had me tied up so I couldn’t move anyway!” That ‘Scootaloo’ comment had stung. “Heheeheehee.” “It’s not funny!” Rainbow squirmed as she was cleaned up. “Anyway…I forgot to tell you something! it was hard to surprise her, she kind of knew what to brace herself for. I guess her dream told her about everything I was going to do. She seemed to have given some good screams during the electrocution, though. But I knew I had to step it up.” Pinkie got a movie projector. “So…during the harvesting, I got out and played this!” She flipped it on before Dash could process that she might not want to see whatever that movie was about. Nothing but blank photoage played on the wall. “Oh nuts! I forgot to rewind. This will just take a minute now, Dashie.” I need to change the subject now… “Well, just so you know…I had a dream about you, too!” “Oh, really?” Pinkie asked with mock surprise “I’m so flattered!” “It was horrible. The worse dream ever. I nearly forgot it. Before I remembered it just now.” “Oh come on…you only had it last night.” “No….no, this one was on the day of Gummy’s party. My memories of it almost faded.” “Really? Well, go on then! Tell me what it was about! Because I remember what happened the day after that!” Pinkie sneered and turned her head away. “IT WAS ABOUT YOU BEING GONE!” Dash yelled at the top of her exhausted voice. “W-what?” Pinkie seemed genuinely shocked. “I-it wasn’t a normal nightmare about watching you die…t-that had already happened. And you were just…gone. The color went out of the world, the entire dream was all our friends being sad without…without….WITHOUT YOU BEING RANDOM AND STUPIDLY ADORABLE EVERYWHERE WE WENT!” Pinkie just stared, wide-eyed. “When I woke up, I ran out the door, desperate to see if you were okay…a-and then *sob* I saw you in that Balloon of yours, giving me a Singing Telegram! I never told you…how happy I was to see…N-no. This. Is. Wrong.” Pinkie seemed to be trying regain her composure. “I’ll say. You stopped liking my parties after that! You aban-“ “SHUT UP! YOU’RE NOT THE REAL PINKIE! YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE REAL FEELINGS! YOU’RE JUST A TWISTED SHADOW OF HER LIKE ZECORA WARNED ME ABOUT!” Rainbow bellowed. Her voice raspy, the pegasus continued as tears she didn’t know she had streamed down her face. “How dare you say those things with Pinkie’s voice! How dare you grin like that with Pinkie’s face! How. Dare. You. Try. To. Ruin. My. Image. Of. My. Wonderful….Innocent…Irreplacable…. Friend!” Rainbow rasped The evil Pinkie actually clasped her hooves over her mouth. “Pinkie Pie would never do what you have done. She would never even think it. I don’t believe you. You’re a fake. You’re not even Pinkie at her worse. What WAS the worse thing she did? Go Emo and party with some turnips? Otherwise just general rough housing? That’s it?” “What…I….I…” the Monster was actually sobbing. Those tears rolling down her cheeks seemed to be defying some kind of Natural Order of Things. Rainbow wasn’t moved. “Stop crying! Just go ahead and k-kill me now!” Rainbow cursed herself for letting that one word almost stick in her throat. “There’s nothing else for you TO do to me.” Rainbow choked “Because while I hate you with all my heart, I’m still rooting…for the real Pinkie. You’ll never convince me you are anything but a *hic* -a TWISTED IMAGE of my best friend!” Dash shut her eyes and looked away from Pinkie. “I can’t even look at you anymore! Damn you! I’m not letting you in! You can *hic* take my life…but won’t replace my true memories of Pinkie Pie!” The pink filly ran out of the room, sobbing. Rainbow tried to yell, but her voice was incredibly weak “Come back…come back…if you’re really going soft now of all times…let me go…I don’t like being stuck here.” What was with the other Pinkie? Was that another trick…or did I actually strike a nerve? Its gotta be a trick…its just gotta be! Where’s my Pinkie? Will I ever see her again? Will I ever see any of my friends again? The cloud walking technique her Rainbow had taught her was normally just for her to visit Rainbow’s house. She could really use it without some way of reaching a certain cloud. However, Rainbow had warned her not to do any of the following things: -Don’t go up without a way down. There were many objects that were “cloud-proofed” so they could be used by Pegasi. Pinkie’s hot air balloon, for instance could land on clouds. -Don’t walk on storm clouds. Rainbow didn’t really explain why, but she made Pinkie promise she wouldn’t. She also didn’t want Pinkie walking on any “wild” clouds either. -You can walk on fog, if you must, but it’s incredibly dangerous. First of all, it required even more concentration than cloud walking, something the Pinkie didn’t have much of to start with. Furthermore, Fog is chaotic, random, insubstantial, and lacked the stability of Equestria Clouds. But it is possible to “climb the mist”, just knowing that any mass of mist, even on a thick, “pea soup” fog, is going to fall apart as it moves through the sky, and if you go up too high and lose your footing… Dash made Pinkie promise her that she would never try that except to get away from predators or something. Well…this HAD to count as an “or something.” She was going to Sugarcube Corner. It was still her best lead. She wasn’t positive how she’d get inside with all the doors in this Ponyville being all wonky, but she’d burn that bridge when she came to it. Pinkie ran towards the thickest glob of fog she could find…and climbed onto to it. She was now floating a foot off the ground. She had to shift a little bit, to keep her footing. Standing of Fog really was a different experience….but still she waited. Suddenly, she heard the beating of wings. Rainbow was approaching. The fog was being blown forth in a large cloud…beyond that cloud lay a very annoyed ponicidal blue pegasus. The mist-wall quickly approached Pinkie. She sat on her cloud. She made no effort to move, another her heart was racing. It came closer… Closer… And then Pinkie’s cloud was swept up with the wall…taking Pinkie with it! Pinkie had to suppress an excited “WHEEEEEE!” as she rode the gusts that were pushing her forward. However, she did smile. This was the cleverest thing she’d ever done! As long as she kept it up, Dash would push her forward and never notice! A little too widely did she smile, as the pain in the side of her head fired back up again. “Ouch!” Pinkie put a hoof up next to her head and forgot all about mist-walking and… uh oh. Pinkie came tumbling out of the scattering mist, much to Rainbow’s surprise. “Oof! Oooh…my head is spinnnnnnnn….ning.” Pinkie looked up at Rainbow. And grinned nervously. “Eheh…could you do that again? It was fun!” “…Since when can you can cloud walk?” Rainbow crossed her arms. “Never mind. This just makes you more dangerous than ever.” She started flying around and around Pinkie Pie… “Um…Rainbow?” Pinkie cringed worriedly as Dash looped around her. “So you like going for little rides, do you?” The pegasus sped up. “TRY THIS ONE ON FOR SIZE!” And a Rainbow tornado wrapped around the pink earth pony and swept her into the air! “Daaaaasssshhhhiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Pinkie cried as she spun around and around… Dash just laughed. Hungrrrry…how long have I been down here? Rainbow thought miserably to herself. I need to go again…really, really BAD. I could just go ahead and go, I suppose… “…I can’t do it. I have nervous bowels from the dead ponies watching me…G-gilda? Could you turn around and not look?” Suddenly, a Pink hoof stepped out of the darkness and turned the griffon skull around. “You could use this bucket…” Pinkie’s voice said as she stepped into view pushed a metal pale up to Dash. She wasn’t wearing the dress anymore. “H-how long were you there?” Rainbow asked. Arg…am I blushing? Why am I blushing? This is the stupidest reaction ever! She’s not even actually my friend, she’s no one! “Um…I’m sorry.” Pinkie said. Somepony around here is trying to get the role for Fluttershy… “I-I thought…maybe…you might be hungry?” Pinkie had set down a plate topped with a sky blue icing cupcake with little candy-cloud decorations on them. The cupcake itself was dyed all the colors of the rainbow. “I…I know you like seeing the sky and all, so I thought…” “Um…” Rainbow wasn’t entirely sure how to handle this situation. “I…” Her stomach growled. Pinkie giggled. “I can’t really eat tied up like..hey.” Pinkie placed a cut up piece of the cupcake into Dashie’s mouth. “Go on..I’ll feed you.” She smiled. Rainbow felt like something was wrong, but her stupid stomach was hearing no counter arguments. Things couldn’t get any worse. And…Rainbow kind of liked being fed. (even if there was something a little…different…about this cupcake. It was very, very faint, but something about it wasn’t Pinkie’s normal recipe.) “You like it?” Pinkie asked. “Um…y-yes…” This was true. The candy clouds were quite sweet. She cursed her mind, telling her that’s how Stockholm syndrome starts, but she couldn’t help but think that maybe…just maybe there was something good left in this Pinkie. Maybe she could be saved. Oh sure, after like, fucking YEARS of psychiatric help, but…maybe. When Rainbow was done, a dangerous smile broke across Pinkie’s face. “So what do you think? Does it taste like Rainbows?” Rainbow blinked. What did that have to do…? Pinkie winked. Rainbow got it. Deep in the recesses of Rainbow’s mind, a great Congress of all of the pegasus’ brain’s constituent parts had stopped what they were doing to cast their gaze –ALL their gazes- at Polyana/Stockholm Rainbow. The mind construct, who looked like Rainbow Dash in an Angellic halo and white gown (and also kinky hoofcuffs) sank down into her seat. “eheh. eheheheh…..shutting up.” She squeaked. And then, All Hell broke loose in the Congress. …BUT. I. YOUMEAN.ALLTHAT.AND WHATIWASTASTING- WHATHAVEIDONE?GETITOUTGETITOUTGETITOUT! CAN’TBREATHECAN’TBREATHE…can’t…breathe… Rainbow collapsed. Pinkie giggled. And approached. Suddenly, Rainbow began struggling with her bonds with renewed vigor. “GET. IT. OUT!” Rainbow began. With what little leverage she had in the straightjacket, she began lifting her forelegs and delivering a two-hooved punch to her own gut, causing her to gag and spray spittle across the room. Then, she tried it again. “GET IT OUT!” BOOF! “GET IT OUT!” SQUICK! “GETITOUTGETITOUTGETITOUT! GET IT OUUUUUTTTT!” After a titanic battle, Rainbow finally coughed up the cupcake. Collapsing again, she looked at the pink pony and said. “Not. Pinkie.” And fainted. Dark Pinkie blinked. “Well!” She clapped her hooves together. “That was more fun than I thought it was going to be.” Dark Pinkie decided to inject Rainbow with a needle. Rainbow didn’t wake up. Nor had the Baker pony expected her too. She grabbed a scalpel in her mouth…and began to remove Rainbow’s straight jacket and other bonds. Oh Celestia…! I’m getting sick! Pinkie was no stranger to dizzying rides, she loved roller coasters for instance, but this was quickly breaching her threshold. Her entire world was spinning. Spinning and the Entire Visible Spectrum of Colors (which included her own Pink) and Rainbow Dash laughing cruel laughter. And…water? Somehow, glops of water were pounding into and soaking Pinkie. She thought she was drowning when one hit her in the face…Where did they come from? But then, somehow Pinkie found herself outside the tornado! What was more, the tornado was sucking in all the fog! She barely had time to think. As her hooves flailed outside, she grabbed some Fog and wrapped her hooves around it, focusing all of her attention on cloudwalking. Pinkie struggled with all her might, resisting the tornado trying to pull her back in…but she broke free and was standing on a very unstable fog cloud. She immediately hopped onto another one, but that was getting sucked up too! She hopped to another one, then another one, but they all seemed to be traveling even faster towards the tornado than she could escape from it. Did it just get FASTER? Pinkie’s cloud just then was torn from the herd of others and fell into Dash’s tornado! Pinkie was feeling nauseous again and but suddenly realized that she could use the momentum of the tornado to her advantage up here… The mist-cloud Pinkie was standing on went around, and around, faster and faster as it came near the colorful tails of Rainbow’s tornado. The cloud itself was shrinking, and Pinke had got her feet as close together as they could be for her that she could still prepare to jump. She saw that her chance was coming…and she leapt. As she did so, she pushed the cloud she was standing on down into the center of the tornado. Moments later, Dash, who had been getting steadily more and more soaked, was clocked by a large glop of water. This caused her to stop spinning. She looked around for Pinkie Pie, but couldn’t find her anywhere… “Where are you!? Where!? COME OUT! PPPIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNKKKKKKIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!” The horrible cries of vengeance died down. Pinkie kept running, but she was certain that she wasn’t going to see anymore of Dash for a while. She did it. She got away. She began climbing down the fog, to the nice, safe, ground. “I…I know you didn’t mean any of the things you said, Dashie.” Pinkie sobbed. “You’re just worried about Sweetie Belle, and you think that I’m doing a weird two-personality thing. But I’m not. She’s a different pony, I’ll prove it to you…” “And thank you…my Dashie. For teaching me to walk on clouds. It saved my life today.” Pinkie smiled. But then she frowned. "My Dashie didn't share that trick with me! Boooooo!" “Oh…” Pinkie wore a crestfallen expression. “Maybe she did mean those mean things she said. She wasn’t actually my Dash at all. The only Pinkie Pie she ever knew was…was THAT ONE!” This Dash was actually right about her Pinkie. Visiting a world where you’re the bad pony…is really, really, not fun. And she headed off to Sugarcube Corner. She hoped that even after all this clowning around with Rainbow, she was still in time to save- Even through a great haze that had come over her sleeping mind, Rainbow Dash felt her heart stop. Something had penetrated it, pierced through it… “And that takes care of that.” The voice of “Shadash” entoned. “Seems to have been worth a little less...energy than I thought she would be worth. Are you SURE you broke her like you were supposed to?” “Wait…you ate her already? That fast?” ”I don’t ‘eat’ as such. That’s just you and your disgustingness. But yes…the encroachment has begun. …Say, where’d she get those stitches?” “Hmm? Oh, yeah. We had a little accident. Don’t worry, its just a little flesh wound.” “…” “Honest!” “Fine, we don’t have time for this…the other one is on her way. I failed to kill her.” “…Excuse me? Are you trying to get rid of me? After coming crying to me over ‘oh boo hoo she knows the challenge and she’s incorruptible, please Shadamena, save me!” “A pony can dream.” “You do of course realize that everything that happened was still following the plan right? It was a total success!” “I still choose to count this as a failure.” “Yeah, well…just reset Dashie already.” “Yeah, yeah…shoo, shoo, get out of here, you Cadaver…cadaverS, that is. So, how was your sess-AAARRGGG!” As one Rainbow Dash with a knife in her heart faded out of existence in a shower of sparkling light, and another, stitched-up one simply sank into the floor, yet ANOTHER Rainbow Dash was screaming as Pinkie Pie had triple-weilded knifes (holding two in her fore hooves, and one in her mouth.) to stab her in her right wing, her left wing, and her spine. The pegasus fell on the floor, and shadowy smoke began to fade from her. “rrrgggggggg! Sha-shadamena?” Rainbow Dash. “Ooooh BOY, that felt good! I’ve been wanting to do that for this whole while! And Don’t you ‘Sha-sha-Shadamena?’ ME, missy!" Pinkie said, making a mocking expression of her victim. "I saved Dashie for you to reset, but you’re going against me! You go full blown crazy vs. Pinkie and leave me with nothing to do but go over harvesting sessions with Dash that haven’t actually happened!” Dark Pinkie kicked Dark Dash, who had fallen to the floor. “What are you doing, hogging all the fun for yourself, huh? HUUUUUH?” “Shadamena…I-erk!” Dark Dash felt the knife twisted in her back. “I was just joking…” she squeaked. “Shadash….we all like a good joke now and then, but I’m afraid you’re too much of a loose cannon. I’m sure you won’t mind piecing yourself back together in limbo for a few hours while I rework the plan.” And then Dark Pinkie took the hacksaw and began to saw through Dark Dash’s throat while she sat on top of her. “Oh, and one more thing…Call me Dark Pink. You got that…DASHIE?” Dark Pink pinched her victim’s cheek just before the saw fell through the rest of the head and the entire pegasus exploded in a cloud of darkness. “heheheheheh…AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA! Ahhhh…No rest for the weary. I better get things set up for my counterpart.” The pink filly went into her kitchen and fetch a strange Cupcake with Rainbow colored icing. The cupcake itself was a sky blue. It seemed…different from the other cupcakes somehow. There was no magical glow or musical vibrations in the air, but something was just…off by it. Whatever was its story, the baker savored every bite of it. Pinkie Pie had decided that she would sneak in through the garage out of the back of the store, where she kept her Cycle-copter. That’s strange…the garage is missing. But then…does that means she doesn’t have the copter or… Suddenly Pinkie heard something loud! It sounded like gears moving. She looked up and stepped back as she saw, from the giant Cupcake-shaped attic that topped Sugarcube Corner, a hangar opening. Eyes wide in wonderment, Pinkie gasped. It was her Cycle-copter. But it had been…modified. It had wings this time, and on the bottom of those, there were heavy-looking balloons. The Flower-shaped horn had been replaced with a cross hairs…and below the crosshairs was some kind metal pipe that looked like the barrel of a gun. In that pipe was a belt of some kind. (That was full of some kind of dart, not that Pinkie could make that out just yet.) And in the seat, on the other side of the Pipe was…her Doppelganger! Laughing maniacally! And yet, for all this madness…Pinkie had one thought running through her mind. How in all of Equestria HAS NOPONY CAUGHT THIS LUNATIC YET?