"You've been running around my dreams all night."
Integrals
***
Everything was pink.
Now, that wasn't really a problem. Pink is a nice and happy color. It's just somewhat bizarre to enter a forest and find that literally every color there is some shade of pink. Pink trees, pink bushes, pink grass, etc. It felt like looking through literal rose-tinted glasses.
"Hi Berry!" squeaked a pink voice. "Welcome to Pinkieville!"
A pink stallion twisted his head completely around until his gaze rested on a pink mare directly in front of him.
"Huh? Oh! Hi Pinkie! Where are we?"
"Pinkieville! Are you listening?" Not waiting for an answer, she grabbed Berry by the cheeks and pulled on his arm.
The pinks around him blurred into one big pink giving the impression of rapid movement. Surprisingly, his ascent to light speed was not accompanied with death, vomiting, or even the vague impression that he hit a dip on a roller coaster. When he recovered his sight from his purely visual ride, he found himself in front of a familiar storefront made of sweets, albeit with a new monochromatic color scheme.
"Sugarcube Corner? So we're in Ponyville?"
"Pinkieville, Berry! You gotta focus!"
"I'm trying!" he cried, falling to his knees and clutching his head. "I've never been confused like this before! What's wrong with me?"
"Nothing!" she assured him. "That's how it is around here until you get a hang of it."
"How do I get a hang of it? This feels weird."
"I'll show you!" Pinkie grabbed her clone again by the cheeks and dragged him to the nearest pony.
"Do you know her?"
Berry looked the mare up and down. She, like the surroundings, wore a monochromatic color scheme of pink, light pink, and dark pink. Though, something in the back of his mind told him those weren't her true colors, so to speak.
"I don't think so? I mean, I only know you, the other girls, the guys, that discord guy, the Cake's, uh..."
"No no no. You know them, but you don't know them like I do. Say hi!"
The stallion scratched his head, growing tired of confusion. "Hi, uh, you! I'm Berry! What's your name?"
The stranger didn't respond. In fact, she hadn't moved a muscle since he and Pinkie got there. She held one front hoof out in front of herself as though offering a hoof shake. Her bespectacled face was frozen mid "hello" with her swirly mane similarly stuck impossibly in the air.
"You gotta shake her hoof, Berry!"
"Alrighty!" He grabbed her outstretched hoof and shook, her leg remaining stiff but moving with his. "My name's Berry! Again! What's your name? Again."
As he shook, he felt the mare's leg loosen. Time seemed to take a hold of her again, forcing her face to continue it's task of speaking.
"I am the Mayor. It's so very nice to meet you."
As she spoke, colors other than pink faded into her coat, revealing beiges and whites that would have been boring in any other background.
"I hope you enjoy your time in Ponyville. Now, if you'll excuse me..." she trailed off while walking away.
Berry blinked, watching the Mayor venture toward the center of town. However, her colors left her again as she reached a good distance from the two naturally pink ponies. She froze again and Berry turned his nonplussed gaze back to his friend.
"Pinkie," he whined. "She said Ponyville. Are you playing a trick on me?"
"No! That's just how everyone is here. And that's not even the important part! Did you notice anything just now?"
"She froze again over there."
"Ugh! What do you know about her?"
"Know? She's the Mayor. She's got a scroll cutie mark. She dyes her mane. She made me pay for a bunch of permits to throw parties. She has me in her records as 'noise complaint'. She-"
The stallion stopped, eyes growing wide. His double only smiled wide at him, nodding.
"Wait! I've never seen her do any of that!" he squeaked.
"Uh huh!"
"Am I psychic?"
Pinkie stopped nodding. "Nope. You're just me! Sort of."
"Oh. Oh! That's what Twilight was talking about before! We're doing that right now!"
The mare patted her clone on the back as one would their child after they successfully recited the alphabet for the first time. I mean really recite it. None of that "elemeno" crap. Enunciation is key.
"I told you you'd get the hang of it!" she said.
"Does this mean I can shake your hoof to remember you?" The stallion didn't wait for an answer and attempted to grab the foreleg tapping his back.
But she withdrew it before he could introduce himself. "Ah ah ah," she chastised. "Not yet. You gotta learn about everypony else first."
Berry's energy visibly faltered, his smile almost wavering by a degree. "Aw."
"Don't be sad! There are a lot of nice ponies in Pinkieville. Don't you want to meet nice ponies?"
"Yeah, but you're more fun."
The mare squeaked and engulfed him in a massive hug. "Oh Berry! That's so sweet!" she said, swaying with him in her hooves.
"So you'll come with me?" he asked, muffled by the floofy fur on her chest.
"Nope! I gotta do other stuff."
Berry didn't have time to pout after his face hugger disappeared, leaving him to fall on his face. She reappeared in the doorway to not-Sugarcube Corner, whispering something through the door.
"Who are you talking to? Should I shake their hoof?"
"No!" Pinkie shrieked in a decidedly un-fun manner. "I, uh, I mean not until you meet everypony else!"
"How will I know when I'm done?" Berry asked, making his way to her to see inside.
"Ha ha! Alright! See ya later Berry!" she sputtered as she shut the door. "Ow! Ok! I'm coming. Sheesh."
The stallion stared at the bakery with concern. A few tugs on the door handle told him it was locked and would remain locked until he met everyone in town. Literally. The words "Come back when you've met everyone" appeared before the door.
Berry eyed the words with distaste and reluctantly walked off in the direction of the Mayor. As confused and worried as he was, floating bits of text don't lie. The task would have to be completed before he could see Pinkie again.
"Alright Pinkieville," he growled, stretching his legs.
"Prepare to be greeted."
...
Never before had Berry learned so much while his mind was elsewhere. Granted, he hadn't had much time to learn before he arrived in this strange pink land. Still, while his smile and eyes remained attentive to the barely-responsive denizens of Pinkieville, he cared little for their greetings or the knowledge of their lives that forced its way into his head.
"Hi, I'm Berry! What's your name? Alright see you later!" His relatively halfhearted mantra still escaped his lips despite there being no pink statues nearby left unmet.
He approached Sugarcube Corner again, notably more sluggish than before. He cautiously lifted a hoof to the door, expecting some discouraging message to appear. One like "Not yet moron" or "Everypony means every pony you simpleton".
"Is it everypony yet?" he pleaded with the wooden entrance. "Please tell me it's everypony! I'm really tired!"
To his delight, it gave way against his touch to reveal the familiar, albeit pink, interior of the bakery where he thought he fell asleep.
"Pinkie! I did it! I know all of them! I- Pinkie?"
Not even an unenthusiastic greeting answered him this time. Just the empty counter and some sealed off desserts.
"Hello?" the stallion called out to anyone this time. "I'm looking for a pony. Looks like me, but cuter?"
This was worrisome. Before, he had a task that occupied him and would presumably reward him with his friend's company. Without it, what did he have? Silence and statues.
Oppressive silence, in fact. Aside from the occasional voice when he spoke, Berry had not heard any noise since he arrived. No wind, no birds, and certainly no idle conversation one would expect in such a popular establishment.
The stallion hadn't had time to consider his dislikes very thoroughly. But he was now sure he hated silence.
Scanning the room, he felt a slight pressure by his ears. Nothing like that special sense he seemed to possess. This was out of spookiness.
"Pinkie! This is spooky! Please say something!"
Nothing.
"Are we playing hide and seek?"
Again, nothing.
"I guess you wouldn't be able to say so if we were. Alright! I'm seeking! Prepare to be found!"
Berry set about searching the cafe area, checking inside the cash register and above ceiling tiles first. You know, all the obvious spots. This yielded nothing but a single bit and a particularly pink dust bunny that didn't even respond to Berry's greeting.
"So you're in the kitchen," he announced if only to break the silence. "I don't think the Cakes want us to play in there."
But play couldn't be stopped. The stallion extended his head through the double doors to peek into the kitchen, half-hoping to see a pink poofy tail sticking out somewhere. Then again, the color pink did anything but stand out in this world.
"Maybe you're in," Berry dragged out his last word while grabbing the refrigerator. "Here!" he cried as he swung it open.
The ice box held no pink ponies but was rather packed with everything he could have wanted for baking. Milk, eggs, butter, all the good stuff to make the really good stuff.
"Or not. Hey, can we make something when we're done? Those marshmallows earlier aren't doing me much good now. Wait, when is now?"
Further inspection of the kitchen yielded neither Pinkie nor a clock. It did, however, give Berry some time to develop the heebie-jeebies. Where was this place? How long has he been here? When would he get to leave?
Those last two were of particular concern, as it was hard to tell the passage of time when nothing and no one ever moved. It felt like ages since he'd last seen Pinkie. Was he just being hopeful when he assumed she was hiding? Was he really alone?
"No! Stop that!" Berry shook away the bad thoughts in a visible cloud of pink-grey mist. "Pinkie is still here! Maybe we're just not playing by the official Hide and Seek Association guidelines! That means upstairs is fair game!"
He bounded off to the nearest staircase leaving all of his jeebies, heebie or otherwise, behind.
"Of course she'd be in her room!" he exclaimed. "That's the funnest room here!"
It dawned on him as he reached the second floor that silence may be a good idea. If the HaSA guidelines weren't in effect, then she could change spots after hiding too. Those old bureaucrats really sapped all the fun out of the game in Gen VI.
But maybe his own noise wouldn't be an issue. As he approached the familiar door, Berry began to hear whispering from the other side.
Whispering! From ponies who aren't statues!
So enticing was the prospect of social interaction that Berry didn't even consider knocking before bursting in. Why would he knock, anyway? He'd been in there before without knocking. In fact, he was fairly certain he went to sleep in there.
Wait. That was Pinkie's room. This is Pinkieville Pinkie's room. Are they different?
Yes. Very different. Inside Pinkie's Pinkieville room was something unthinkable. Well, two unthinkable things. Also Pinkie.
The pink mare for whom Berry had searched lay on her stomach on her fluffy bed, fiddling with a piece of her mess of a mane. She was not illuminated by her normal bedroom lights, but by a single swinging lamp in the center that left her body pink but her surroundings black.
Black. Not pink.
The lamp swung away from her, shrouding her in darkness but revealing a dull wooden chair opposite to her. In that chair sat Pinkie.
Well, it looked like Pinkie as far as colors and facial features go. Berry would have been able to see those cute dimples of hers if she was smiling.
Wait. That doesn't make sense.
Sure enough, the mare was doing anything but smiling. Her crossed legs and positively neat mane pulled back into a bun looked so wrong on her. If he didn't know any better, Berry would think she made a living scowling at a document or an intern until it was filed or crying.
"You better listen to me this time," weird buisnessy Pinkie said sternly. "This isn't you're usual frivolous friendship issue. This is real. This is life-changing. Life-ruining."
The lamp swung back to normal Pinkie, who wouldn't meet weird Pinkie's glare. She didn't seem quite as happy as usual, a difficult feat when you're resting facial expression is a smile. Berry wanted to go ask what was wrong, but another swing of the lamp stopped him in his tracks.
Weird Pinkie's gaze fell on him like an anvil, but without the fun sound effects. Those eyes he'd come to know as cheerful and inviting gave no indication that she considered him a pony, much less a friend. Her glare seemed to strangle his gut, killing any words it met on the way there.
"Well if it isn't the interloper," she spat. "What brings you here? Were her memories and trust not enough?"
The light tilted back to normal Pinkie, who's smile did its best to soothe her friend's nerves.
"Oh hi Berry! Come on in!"
As she spoke, the room brightened and took on the pink hues of the outside world. With visibility no longer an issue, Berry could see that there were, in fact, two of her. Both stared at him with equal extremes of either happiness or distaste.
Berry chose the happy side of the room.
"Did you meet everypony?" normal Pinkie asked as he sat down beside her.
"Uh, I think so. The door wouldn't let me in until I did, so- mph!"
Weird Pinkie appeared before him and clamped a hoof on his mouth. She brought his face to hers and once again burned her glare through him.
"Don't go getting all comfortable, intruder. Do you think I don't know what's going on? What's your game here."
"Hide and seek," he answered as soon as his mouth was free. "Speaking of..."
Berry rolled onto his back to look right up at the face of the Pinkie he new.
"Found you!" he squeaked, poking her nose.
While they giggled and rolled around on the bed, weird Pinkie remained irritated. "Hey!", she shouted, halting the giggles. "No comic relief. I told you this is serious!"
Serious. Now there's a word to say to a pony who believes that moods exist to be lightened.
"Your mind is in danger," she continued. "All because you let that- that thing in here. You know what could happen."
Again, normal Pinkie avoided eye contact with her displeased doppelganger.
"What? What could happen?" Berry asked to no Pinkie in particular.
"You don't know? Of course she didn't tell you. If you knew, you might leave."
"Leave?" The stallion sat up. "Leave what?"
"This place. Us. Because maybe you'd think things through more than she did. "
"Think what through? You're not making any sense!" Berry objected, wrapping a hoof around the nearer Pinkie.
"You think you care about her. If she cared about you, she'd want you to go."
"Pinkie, who is this?" he asked, voice growing uneasy.
Puffy-haired Pinkie didn't answer, only nestling further into his hold.
"But she's already cast me aside. I guess it's up to you now."
"W-wait! What are you talking about!?"
Weird Pinkie didn't answer. She stood and walked toward the door, the lights dimming all the while.
"Pinkie!"
The door closed behind her, bathing the room in darkness once again.
...
He'd felt the squeezing already. He was sure he was squeezing too. But it was the tossing and turning that finally dragged him out of his slumber.
That name wouldn't leave his dry throat, but he continued to scream it even after his eyes opened. He couldn't see much beyond the vague shadows, only compounding his fear.
"Berry?"
His movements stopped at the sound of her voice. She was there. Everything was fine.
"Pinkie?" he croaked out into the nothing in his field of view. "W-what-"
She shuffled in his grip, releasing her own. Her mane left his face, giving him proper room to breathe and see.
"Were you having a bad dream?"
Fear wakes the more instinctual portions of the brain first. Danger? Impending vague darkness? No? Alright, now you can think.
He was still in the bed. Or rather, he never left. By the light in the room, he guessed it was that odd hour when one could consider it to be very late night or very early morning. The mare he'd been holding so tightly was lying opposite to him, blue eyes staring at his with care and concern.
"Dream? Oh. Right." Berry giggled halfheartedly. "Wowie, that was spooky!"
"Aw, I'm sorry you had such a bad dream on your first night here. Do you want to talk abou-"
"No!" he interrupted. "I-I mean, it was a silly dream."
"I like silly. Don't you?"
"Of course! But this was, like, the bad silly."
Pinkie pouted. "Oh. I don't like that kind of silly."
"Yeah. Me neither."
While Berry attempted to slow his breathing, Pinkie seemed to be searching her clone's face for something. Her expression inched dangerously toward a frown.
"I wasn't having a great dream either," she said eventually.
"Oh?"
"Mhm." She rolled back into cuddling range and once again clamped her forelegs around his torso. "Let's try to get some more sleep. We've got fun stuff to do tomorrow!"
Berry felt himself relax once again at her touch. "Ok. Sleep well Pinkie," he murmured, nuzzling her forehead.
"You too," she giggled. "If you have any more dreams, I'll always be here for you."
Fear gripped the stallion's heart again at her assurance, dampened by the sedative effect of her mane. Again, his words wouldn't leave his mouth.
"I-Thank you P-" he stuttered. But she'd already fallen asleep in his hooves.
Not quite reassured, Berry settled into the cuddle in the hopes of joining her.
...