Beyond the Mirror Pool

by Sin Kurtiz

Chapter 5: Another Ally

Pinkamena woke up from her night's rest and yawned. She glanced over at Lucario's bed to see that the blue Pokemon was not there. Pinkamena wondered where he could be. She knocked on the bathroom door, asking if he was in there, but she got no answer. After taking care of her bodily functions, she headed to the lobby to see if Lucario was out there. She walked to the lobby and saw a vending machine. She inspected it closely, finding many types of food behind a thin plastic wall. She saw that there were numbers below each item. And to the right was a box attached to the machine and buttons, and near that was a sign that read "Insert payment method and select item".

Pinkamena was then pushed aside. When she looked at who had shoved her it was a short human boy wearing red clothes and a red hat that looked like an elf's hat. The boy opened the box and placed a blue jewel that looked almost like Rarity's cutie mark. He then closed the box and pressed a few buttons. Then the machine whirred to life and grabbed a glass bottle with a red liquid inside. It then brought the bottle to the box where the boy had placed the jewel and the box opened up. The boy grabbed the bottle, pulled off the cork, and chugged it down in two gulps then wiped his mouth. The boy in red clothes then walked away silently.

Pinkamena looked at the strange boy and could help but feel that he was linked to the Hallway of Clones. She pulled out two bits and placed it in the box. She looked at the machine and saw hay bacon strips, Pinkamena's favorite breakfast aside from sugar! She punched in the numbers and watched the machine grab her hay bacon strips. When the box opened there was something on top of the hay bacon strips. A note.

Pinkamena opened the note and read it aloud to herself. "You, little pink pony, have no idea what awaits you. The path you are on will lead you to an end that cannot be undone nor avoided." The words were writing themselves as Pinkamena read the note. "You shall see pain beyond your belief. And then you must make a choice to decide how your life shall continue. I say this to you now, return to where you came from or face the dangers that await. But, if you choose to continue your journey, seek out the master of copy. He shall see that journey through to his demise. Be warned that your reason for this journey is from your own selfishness. You must think of others on this journey. Farewell, Pinkamena..."

Pinkamena stood there thinking about what the note said. "Your reason for this journey is from your own selfishness"... Pinkamena did want to go home for her own reasons, but it was to live a life making ponies happy, like the real Pinkie Pie. "You must make a choice to decide how your life shall continue". Pinkamena was scared of thinking of what that line meant or even the thought of what the choice will be. "Seek out the master of copy" Who could that be? Pinkamena didn't know anybody who could even come close to being a master at copying. She could only hope that he was in this Inn. She shook her head and ran off looking for Lucario, leaving behind her hay bacon strips.

---

Pinkamena had reached the lobby and saw that Lucario was talking with someone. That someone was shaped like a green circle with arms. It had a face, with the regular eyes and mouth like everyone else. And his legs/feet were like orange shoes with no design at all. Lucario looked over and gestured for Pinkamena to join him. Pinkamena trotted over.

The green circle said, "Is this her?"

"Yeah" Lucario answered, "This is Pinkamena. I'm helping her escape from this world, Arceus said I had to"

"Oh so you still owe Arceus that favor when he rescued you?" the green one questioned

Lucario laughed happily, "Yes, Kirby, I never thought I would be able to pay him back. This is like a miracle, finally paying off that life debt to him"

Kirby laughed as well, he seemed to be a cheerful little character. "She doesn't seem like much of a fighter... You need someone else to come along so you two don't get injured?"

"Nah, I can handle whatever will be thrown at us." said Lucario "But, thanks for offering"

"No problem, but if you need help, you know who to call. You still got the phone?"

"It's gone, I dropped it when Arceus was carrying me back from the Sanctuary. I'm glad I was able to get back there after the fight before that. I thought I was going to die going up against that thing"

"So, how did you end up living?"

"Infernape saved me, but he got trapped inside..." Lucario looked away. That was clearly a sore topic.

"Oh, sorry. But anyway..." Kirby turned towards Pinkamena "Nice to meet you Pinkamena, my name is Kirby. Or at least, I was a part of Kirby when Meta Knight cut him into four pieces. Then the real one of him ended up becoming one piece again and me and the other two pieces live here." He stuck out his arm which was a big stub.

Pinkamena out her hoof and shook Kirby's "hand". "Nice to meet you too. You know Lucario? From where?"

"Oh, don't get me started." he began "I helped this guy on his last journey out of this place and saved him from falling to his death a few times since I'm basically a freaking balloon with arms and legs!" He proved this point by taking in a deep breath and becoming swelled. He began to float and he flapped his arms and he began to rise in the air. After about thirty seconds, he let out a puff of air and fell down on his chair. He landed on one foot and spun. Then plopped down into his chair. "And I've also got a special power that lets me take my opponent's power."

"Yeah" Lucario pitched in "He can swallow his enemies after sucking them up. He can fit anything in his mouth because he so fat!" Lucario began cracking up.

Kirby had started laughing as well. "Yea, but I'm not fat. I even know a few people who call me the "Master of Copying" because I copy my opponent's power and use it as my own. I actually like that nickname"

Master of Copying! This was who the note said to find! "Uhhh..." Pinkamena said, "Would you mind joining us on our journey?"

Lucario looked at her with anger. Pinkamena knew why. He had just said that they didn't need him on the journey and she went ahead and asked him to join.

Kirby smiled and said "Sure! I told you you would need my help! She even thinks so"

Lucario groaned. "Fine, you can join." He rose out of his chair. "We should probably get started on the journey now. It's going to be quite a long one"

Kirby quickly took advantage of this opportunity and said, "That's what she said!"

Lucario began to laugh. "I hate you so much, you fat booger. Come on" Lucario began walking towards the door and Kirby got out of his chair and followed. Pinkamena was curious about their friendship. They had insulted each other yet they both laughed. If somepony insulted Pinkamena, she would think they were a Meany Meanypants and tell them so. But maybe it's something that males do. Pinkamena wouldn't know because she wasn't a stallion. She put the thought away and began walking towards the door.

---

When she reached outside, she saw Kirby and Lucario looking at some mountains in the distance. "Whatchya lookin' at?" she asked.

"We're trying to find where the Nightmare Abyss is..." Lucario said "It was behind Mt.Shatter which is one of those mountains, if I'm right"

"You don't remember that you need to pass through the Scorch Plains? That's where we'll see the path to Mt.Shatter" Kirby said.

"Oh yeah, now I remember. During our first trip though there you used Ice powers to make it snow so the heat wouldn't affect us. And me and Infernape blasted away anything that got close"

Pinkamena was thinking about the names of the locations the two others had just said. Nightmare Abyss, Mt.Shatter, and Scorched Plains, they all sounded dangerous. But, the path home was through those locations, and Pinkamena wasn't going to stop until she made it home.

Lucario and Kirby began discussing the travel path, so Pinkamena grabbed the mirror out of Lucario's bag which was on the ground next to Lucario and looked into it. And as she looked at her reflection, a bright light began
to shine out of the mirror.

---

Pinkamena saw herself in Ponyville, the day she was cloned. She had been so happy that she began to bounce cheering that she was back in Ponyville. Except the only thing that came out of her mouth was "Fun!"

She bounced around into the Library and jumped from shelf to shelf. The books came tumbling from the shelves, each making a loud smash as they hit the floor, as if they were made of glass. She continued to hop around until she felt pain in her hooves. She stopped and saw that there were shards of glass covering her hooves and halfway up her leg. She wanted to scream in pain, but again, the only sound she made was "Fun!"

She plopped down and reached to pull out the shards of glass, but she could not reach them. The more she tried the farther they seemed to get from her. She began to panic as blood was now coming out of where the shards were.

She heard a voice in her head, one who's tone was sinister and forboding. "You see what I meant? Your own desire lead to the destruction of what was around you. And it eventually came to hurt you. You cannot by blinded by your wishes to go home. Other's have had similar dreams, but theirs were taken from them. Like your friend, Lucario. He want to return home so badly. His heart yearning to be back with his trainer and his friends. Yet that was taken from him. And what is your desire? To go back to Equestria? To become your own pony? To live like a regular pony instead of a clone? You cannot have your wish granted without a cost. Lucario lost his best friend trying to get home. He made it home, but his trainer was nowhere to be found. What if you make it home and find that Equestria is gone? Your so-called friends gone? That wouldn't matter. You don't have friends. You are a clone, nothing more. You are a copy. You are a repeat."

"You are nothing..." the voice whispered

Pinkamena let out a scream as she felt the glass shards tearing apart her flesh.

---

Lucario and Kirby grabbed Pinkamena. They shook her to snap her out of the state she was in. Pinkamena had came back into reality and realized that the pain she felt was merely an illusion. She hugged Lucario and Kirby. Tears forming in her eyes, both from joy and fear. She had never felt so scared, so helpless as she was when that voice spoke to her. Left immobile as it warned her of her actions. It told of the Lucario's past and his desire to leave and what happened when his wish was granted.

She released them from the hug and looked into their eyes. She spoke so calmly towards them. Not saying what she had seen in the mirror. "So are we ready to go?" she asked quietly

"We're going to head off towards Oasis then we go through Scorched Plains" Kirby said

Pinkamena nodded agreeing to the plan. Lucario and Kirby exchanged worried looks then turned their focus back to the journey. Lucario put the mirror in his backpack and slung the bad around his shoulders. Kirby began questioning Pinkamena of what she saw in the mirror, but she ignored all of the questions. And they headed of for Oasis.

Author's Note:

I read some of the writing guide and made a few edits to this story before publishing. I think it really helped me.

And the journey will start. I just need to think of events that will happen. I've already got ideas, but I'm processing them to see if they make sense.