The small wooden room's only attraction was an enormous mirror that took up nearly the entire wall. The thing inside the mirror was unnerving. It had thin spindly limbs and wore blood-red clothing reminiscent of an old court jester. Its face was shrouded by some sort of beaked masque from a time of antiquity.
Pinkie Pie sat and stared at the thing curiously. She blinked her eyes and swished her tail. The thing in the mirror just watched her. Passively observing this strange entity most likely wasn't going to reveal anything.
“What are you, mister?” demanded Pinkie.
The thing didn't move.
“Can you hear me in there? Hello!” shouted the inquisitive pony. She waved her hoof above her head. To her surprise, the thing waved back.
“Hey, you moved!”
No response. Pinkie scratched her head. So did the creature.
“Ooh...I get it! You're copying me!” She giggled and made a funny face. The thing didn't move. “Oh, that's right. You have a mask. Silly me. Hmm.” She thought to herself. “Do you like to dance? Here, watch me!”
Pinkie stood up and began a frenetic jig. It was quite a jovial scene. She sang a cheerful tune and danced sporadically, copied precisely by the thing in the mirror. It cackled in a raspy voice and followed the pony's lead.
“Now you're getting the hang of it!”
The two danced in unison for several minutes, Pinkie's enjoyment never dwindling. Only after a couple merry songs did she begin to run out of steam. She sat back down in front of the mirror and took a moment to catch her breath. The creature copied her deep breathing.
“Boy, you sure do have a lot of energy, Mr. Creepy Thing. Whew.” They both wiped the sweat from their brows. “Thanks for dancing with me though. That sure was fun!”
The thing didn't respond. Aside from Pinkie Pie's verbal input, the room was utterly silent.
“You don't like to talk a lot, do you? You'd get along real well with my friend Fluttershy! I'm still kinda peeved at her. She doesn't want to come back and explore the castle with me. Can you believe that? This place is awesome!”
The creature looked stoically at her. Before Pinkie could come up with another topic of conversation, the thing shifted his focus to the door. His white masque glinted behind the mirror.
“Is something there?” asked Pinkie.
The thing made a raspy noise of disgust and evaporated out of sight somewhere into the mirror. Not three seconds later, there was a loud rap at the door.
“Hello?” came a familiar voice. “Pinkie Pie? Are you in here?” The door swung inward, revealing a bewildered Twilight Sparkle.
“Twilight!” cried Pinkie excitedly. She stood up and lunged at the alicorn, bowling her over in a big bear hug.
“Oof...That's quite enough, Pinkie,” wheezed Twilight.
“Sorry Twilight. I didn't expect to see you here!” explained Pinkie. “What are you doing here? How did you find this place? Did you come to get rare food for Fluttershy?”
“Actually,” said Twilight, “it was Fluttershy who told me about this castle. She came to the library this morning and informed me about your little adventure yesterday. She also recalled that you have, erm, 'powers' now.”
Pinkie's smile widened. “Yeah yeah! I do! Wanna see some? They're super awesome!”
The princess extracted a quill and some parchment from her satchel. “Sure! In just a minute. I'd love to take some notes on them too, if you don't mind. For research purposes.”
“Okie dokie lokie!” affirmed Pinkie.
“But first I have a question,” said Twilight with a cocked brow. “Why were you sitting and staring at that mirror?”
Pinkie was overjoyed that she knew the answer to Twilight's question. “Oh! I was talking to Mr. Creepy Thing. Let's see if he'll come back and dance with us. He left just before you came in.”
“Mr. What?”
“Come over here!”
Twilight was beyond confused. This couldn't be good. She followed the Pinkie to the mirror. They sat and gazed intently at the polished glass. There wasn't anything looking back them, but something about Pinkie herself seemed slightly off. Was it just a trick of the mind, or were Pinkie's eyes tinged with red?
Pinkie groaned. “Lame. I guess he's not coming back. That really stinks.”
“Right... So anyway, show me some of your powers,” said Twilight with quill in hoof.
Pinkie turned to face her. “Great! Here we go!” She gathered energy and leaped up into the air – where she stayed. Her body hung suspended in place. “Look Twilight! I'm floating!”
“Oh my,” marveled Twiligh. She frantically scribbled on her parchment. “How are you doing that? I've never seen anything like it!”
Pinkie giggled and twirled about in the loft. She mimicked the pose of Rainbow Dash relaxing on a cloud. “Easy peasy. I got this power from a Medusa Head! I can't really fly, but it's fun to float! I can also walk on water and jump super high!”
“Jump super high...” repeated Twilight. “Okay got it. So, tell me-” She stopped mid sentence and dropped her quill. A large, menacing creature bobbed behind the mirror, copying Pinkie's movements. “Behind you! Look out!” she cried.
“Wha?” Pinkie swiveled around. “Oh, Mr. Creepy Thing! You're back! I want you to meet my friend Twilight! She's here to learn about my powers!”
The thing in the mirror stopped. It hovered silently, no longer emulating its target.
“Hey, why aren't you copying me anymore?” asked Pinkie in a slightly downtrodden voice. “You don't want to meet Twilight?”
It glared blankly through its masque. It reached a spidery arm behind its back and began to float forward towards the ponies.
“What's it doing...?” questioned Twilight.
“I don't know, its never done this before,” Pinkie said shakily.
The tall thing loomed at the surface of the mirror. It chortled quietly in a raspy voice and started to push its way through to the other side.
“M-Mr. Creepy Thing?”
The creature's red cloak flapped lightly as it fell out of the mirror. It drew a sinister looking dagger from behind its back and continued to advance. It was over halfway into reality. “Ehehehehe...” it sputtered.
“Pinkie Pie do something!” screamed Twilight.
“Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh! What do I do!?”
“Anything! Use your powers! I don't know if my magic will work!”
Pinkie stumbled backwards away from the approaching menace. She watched it lift the dagger above its head as it neared her. She then acted upon the first thought that came into her head. “Rock Armor! Kyah!” She lobbed a chunky boulder at the mirror. The glass shattered on impact. The creature let out a bloodcurdling scream as the fragments of its portal clattered to the ground. Without the mirror, the inter-dimensional being was a fish out of water. It glowed a blinding white before totally stiffening and dispersing into the air. Just as it had almost disappeared completely, a shining orb the color of a ruby emerged from its center. The ball of light zipped all around the room. It careened every which way for before finally zooming straight into Pinkie's chest.
“Sweet mother of Celestia,” breathed Twilight. Her mind struggled to process what it had just witnessed. “Pinkie Pie, what just happened?”
The earth pony frowned, then smiled again. “I guess Mr. Creepy Thing wasn't my friend after all. Sorry about that. But I got a new power!”
Twilight clumsily reached for her parchment. “You did? How?”
“Did you see that red glowy orb that flew around the room super fast?”
“Yes?”
“That was a new power! Lemme see what it is!” She produced her otherworldly bestiary and turned to the newest entry. “Paranoia: Gain the ability to enter mirrors. Well whaddya know about that?” She examined a sliver of glass on the floor. “What a jip. I can't try my new power on broken mirrors. I'll have to find another one.”
Twilight had heard enough. “Oh Celestia. Listen Pinkie, can we talk about these powers? I have a hunch that you might not know what you're getting yourself into with them.”
“Okay.”
“Can we maybe discuss this somewhere a little less dangerous?”
“Sure Twilight. Wanna go to the Floating Garden?”
Twilight smiled. “That sounds pleasant enough.”
---
Twilight scribbled away at her notes. Pinkie lay on the soft grass and swatted at a tendril of hanging ivy. A cool breeze wafted through the scattered collection of floating stone structures. The Garden was beautiful indeed. Its disjointed layout only added to its alluring mystique. No other place in the castle offered such an odd sense of serenity. Did this count as “in the castle?” Impossible to say. Somehow the castle's physics made less sense than its new pink explorer.
Pinkie Pie licked her teeth like they were bothering her. “What do you want to know about my powers now, Twilight?”
The princess looked up. “It's not so much what I want to know, rather that I think you should be careful. Do you know why you keep getting these powers?”
“Nope! It just happens sometimes when I kick a bad guy's flank! Like Mr. Mirror Meanie.”
Twilight frowned. “I see. Look, this castle obviously possesses immense power. I don't know how. I also don't know why I never knew about this place until this morning. Maybe Celestia wants to keep it a secret. What I'm trying to say is, please be careful. Whatever kind of magic this place has is bound to have an effect on you. Possibly multiple. That may not be such a good thing.”
Pinkie shrugged off her cautionary words. “You don't have to worry so much, silly. Nothing bad has happened so far. Besides nearly getting stabbed. Hehe... Sorry about that.”
“That's my point, Pinkie,” said Twilight firmly. “Both our lives were in peril not half an hour ago. That's why I want you to be as cautious as possible. Ideally it'd be nice if you stayed clear of this place altogether, but I can't force you to do that.”
Pinkie pulled her friend into a hug and laughed. “Oh Twilight, you are such a worry wort. Most of the monsters here have started calling me 'master' by now anyways. Only a few of them still won't listen to me. Besides, this is all just for fun."