//------------------------------// // Pinkie Pieces // Story: Equis: Interlude // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// After the extra strong feeding from Rarity and Rainbow - and learning that locking onto a pony's magical focal points gave Sapphire more energy - it was determined that Sapphire would be okay for at least a day before needing a major feeding, and if she took small feedings from the base of Fluttershy's wings rather than her hoof, she would be able to sustain herself between major feedings without weakening Fluttershy. It was also decided - rather vocally and insistently - that Fluttershy was to spend the rest of the day in bed while her friends - both pony and animal - saw to her recovery. As a result, Fluttershy was her old self two days later, and Sapphire was keeping herself stable while waiting for her next big feeding. Fluttershy had decided to mediate between Sapphire and Angel, since the pair had not gotten off on the best foot on first meeting, what with the former trying to eat the latter. For this reason, Fluttershy, Sapphire, and Angel were out in Ponyville Fields having some tea when Pinkie Pie raced up to them out of breath. "Doing...anything...fun?" she asked as she gasped for breath. "Not especially," Fluttershy replied. "Are you here to feed Sapphire?" At that moment, Pinkie Pie fell over. "Though...you look kind of tired for that..." Sapphire didn't fully understand what was going on with the-Queen-says-Pinkie-Pie. As best as she could understand the Queen's explanation, the food-that-was-not-Food-but-sometimes-is was a quasi-Us like Sapphire was supposed to be with others like herself, except there weren't any like herself. This apparently had something to do with the term Friend, which Sapphire still didn't quite get...though she felt like she was halfway to understanding it. The-Queen-says-Pinkie-Pie was trying to unite with all of the others at once in an activity called 'Fun'. Apparently, the Queen wasn't presently having any. Sapphire wasn't certain about that, since 'Fun' was apparently supposed to be enjoyable, and she greatly enjoyed every moment with the Queen, even if The Bunny King didn't like her much. She knew the Queen called The Bunny King something else, but that was what he called himself, according to what Sapphire had absorbed from him before being called off. Presently, Sapphire was helping the too-small-to-be-Food creatures ease the-Queen-says-Pinkie-Pie's emotional maelstrom. Sapphire tried to listen to what she had been attempting, but she did not understand words well yet. Before long, Rainbow Dash and the-Queen-says-Applejack approached, and presented the-Queen-says-Pinkie-Pie with a brand new conundrum. Fluttershy stared after Pinkie Pie as she raced away from the animal picnic. "Well, Pinkie Pie was sure acting strangely," she admitted. "Pinkie Piece is strange," Sapphire skreed in agreement. "Sapphire, her name is Pinkie Pie," Fluttershy corrected. "Pinkie Piece," Sapphire argued. "Not Pinkie Pie." Fluttershy tilted her head in confusion. "Umm...I don't understand what you mean." Sapphire grumbled in meaningless skrees for a time, streaks of orange frustration staining her calm blue shine. Fluttershy recognized this combination of noises and colors as when Sapphire wanted to say something but didn't know the words to say it yet. "It's alright," she comforted, wrapping a wing around her alien child. "You'll find the words someday. Your vocabulary gets bigger everyday." Sapphire responded petulantly with a skree that was rather rude. "Though I think you're learning a little too much from Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy replied, blushing. When the swarm of Pinkie Pieces arrived, Sapphire grew angry. She didn't know how or why all these pieces of the-Queen-says-Pinkie-Pie wound up operating independently of the-Queen-says-Pinkie-Pie, but they were wrecking the 'Fun'! At one point, Sapphire lost her temper and latched onto one of the Pinkie Pieces, thinking that a slight drain of energy would calm that Pinkie Piece down a bit. Rather than the Pinkie Piece calming down, however, it was fully absorbed into Sapphire, body, life energy, and magic. Apparently, the Pinkie Piece was too small a piece of Pinkie Pie to function independently without the spell matrix that created them, which collapsed when Sapphire fed. This was interesting. Fluttershy gasped. "Sapphire...what did you just do?" she stared in horror at the place where one of the Pinkie Pies had been before Sapphire had latched on and absorbed her. "Not Pinkie Pie!" Sapphire skreed. "Piece of Pinkie Pie. Incomplete copy! ...I have more words now!" Fluttershy blinked. "Wait...are you saying most of these Pinkie Pies bouncing around are just...little pieces of the Pinkie Pie we know, somehow operating independently of her?" "Not-Food make little Food look big!" Sapphire confirmed. "...why Pinkie Pie sad?" "You...you can tell which Pinkie Pie is the real one?" Fluttershy asked in surprise. "No not-Food in Pinkie Pie. Lots in Pinkie Pieces. When eat Pinkie Pieces, not-Food breaks and goes away." "We need to tell Twilight, quick!" With that, Fluttershy raced off, Sapphire in tow. Sapphire wasn't entirely sure what the Queen, the-Queen-says-Twilight-Sparkle, and the-Queen-says-Spike were talking about, but apparently they were very happy about Sapphire. This was all Sapphire really needed to know, because she had been Praised. You did good, Sapphire. That had been the Queen's words, and it had made Sapphire very very happy. As such, she floated around the Queen's head in joy, teasing her strands with every pass. After a time of discussion, the Queen gave her an order. Find Pinkie Pie. Skreeing confidently, Sapphire made a beeline for her goal, the Queen and the others in hot pursuit. "Pinkie Pie!" Twilight called out as she skidded to a halt in front of the depressed looking Pinkie Pie sitting at the mushroom table as the other Pinkie's bounced around, shouting about 'Fun'. "Is that you?" "I don't know!" Pinkie replied. "Am I the real Pinkie? Am I one of the Mirror Pool copies? How would I kno-ho-ho-how?" She began to blubber. Fluttershy gasped. "The copies dissolved when Sapphire fed off them," Fluttershy pointed out. "If Sapphire feeds on you and you stay in one piece, you're the real Pinkie!" "But what if I dissolve?" Pinkie asked. "Was I ever real? Am-" Before Pinkie could continue, Sapphire burrowed into her mane and latched on near her skull. Both of them flashed briefly in Rainbow colors, though predominantly pale blue. Twilight frowned as she watched this. If it had been predominately pink, it wouldn't have made her think, but this reminded her of what it had looked like when Sapphire had fed on Rarity and Rainbow. Rarity's rainbow colors had been predominately dark purple, and Rainbow had been primarily magenta. Now that she thought about it, she realized that was the colors of their Elements of Harmony. Was Sapphire somehow absorbing Harmony energy, in the same way Celestia and Luna had implanted the Element Energy into Samus? Pinkie, meanwhile, giggled and snorted. "That felt funny!" she said happily as Sapphire detached. "Taste funny!" Sapphire skreed, her skree sounding a bit like a giggle itself. "Can eat Pinkie Pieces?" Fluttershy glanced towards Twilight, frowning. "Umm...would it hurt anything if Sapphire ate the Pinkie Pieces-" "The what?" "That's what Sapphire calls the mirror pool clones," Fluttershy explained. Twilight frowned, rubbing her chin. "Well...you said Sapphire implied that the mirror pool energy that sustains the copies vanishes when she eats them?" "Actually, she said it went away," Fluttershy corrected. "Went...where?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy glanced up at Sapphire. "Where does the not-Food go?" she asked. "That way," Sapphire skreed, jerking towards the Everfree Forest. "Hey!" Pinkie shouted. "That's where the Mirror Pool is!" "If the Mirror Pool magic goes back to the Mirror Pool...then it shouldn't hurt anything," Twilight allowed. Fluttershy smiled. "Eat up, sweetie," she directed. "Food!" Sapphire skreed happily as she charged after the Pinkie Pieces, who promptly treated it as a massive game of Tag, Hide and Seek, and Chase.