Broken Mirror

by GMBlackjack

II - A Warm Welcome

>> Pinkamina Pie and Rarity Belle. Entire libraries could be filled with observations on these two ponies - and I fully expect such places exist somewhere, split off in some distant place.

Rarity: a generous mare who would do anything for just about anyone, a maiden of pure heart if ever there was one. Classy, and yet not arrogant or deceptive. What a mare.

Pinkie: the bringer of laughter to all ponies, even among horrible darkness and sorrow. A mare of exceptional power and skill who devoted her life to what many would consider a chokingly mundane task. Hyper, happy, carefree - contagious.

Everyone likes those images.

Everyone needs a wake-up call. An entire section in those libraries should be devoted to disbanding these deceptions.

Chew on this.

Rarity: A manipulator, a passive-aggressive unicorn who has the eye of a business executive and the brains to bend ponies to her will, showing only what she wants them to see. Entitled, whiny, overdramatic, and depressing - a facade. She knows what she wants and how to get it, and the only reason she hasn't done more despicable things is because her ambition fails her.

Pinkamina: An idiot. A fool with the keys to the universe, the power that none understand. A fearful mare, afraid for everyone she meets. A liar - or rather, one who lives a lie, a lie that everything will be fine if she could only keep smiling. She knows so much and yet so little.

Gross exaggeration? Not entirely. It's just as true as the first descriptions I gave. Of course, everyone has already made up their minds about the two of them, and nothing I say will change their bias, so I wonder why I bother? <<

~~~

Rarity came to with a pained groan. She had the headache to end all headaches, and one of her eyelashes had been dislodged. And all in all, she felt just like someone who hit their head on the rocky ground at high speed should feel upon regaining consciousness. She opened her eyes, subconsciously using her magic to adjust her eyelash back into place. She became aware of the rocky surface she was laid upon, and that it was dark. She let out an annoyed grunt, lighting her horn to illuminate the surroundings.

She was in a cave. Strewn about the gray stalagmites and stalactites were various bits of paper, scientific equipment, and a few magic devices. Rarity only saw one exit to the cavern - a narrow, upward sloping tunnel she couldn't see the end of. There was no sign of a pink magic vortex, though Pinkie Pie herself was easy to pick out from the drab background. The earth pony was on her back, her four legs stiff and pointed straight to the ceiling. Rarity stumbled over to her, horrified by the blank, faraway look in Pinkie's eyes.

"Pinkie? Pinkie can you hear me?!"

Pinkie didn't move.

"Pinkie!" Rarity yelled, nudging her friend. This prompted a response - Pinkie screamed and leaped into the air, flailing wildly, somehow staying airborne longer than should have been possible. After a few seconds, she landed flat on her hooves, breathing rapidly, unable to get enough air. She reached for Rarity, but before she could say anything she passed out from hyperventilation. Rarity caught her before she hit the ground.

Rarity blinked, stunned by what had just happened. "P... Pinkie...?"

Pinkie's eyes flew open. She took a long, deep breath, before slowly rising to her hooves once more. "Okay," she said, "that was one of the most horrible feelings I've ever had." She shook herself, clearing her head. She proceeded to check herself over, finding that all the bruises and scratches were superficial. "But I'm fine now!" she declared, the smile returning to her face.

"W-what happened?" Rarity asked.

"I don't know!" Pinkie shrugged. "Twilight did something and... I stopped." She shuddered, shaking her head once more. "Just... Stopped. It was like part of me was being torn somewhere else, and if I tried to do anything else I'd just break."

Rarity was speechless, the horrified look on her face increasing in intensity the more she thought about what Pinkie had just said.

"But I feel fine now - if a little... odd." She scrunched her muzzle as if it itched. "Proooobalby just recovering."

Rarity nodded. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Rarity, really." The grin on Pinkie's face doubled in size. "Now let's get out of this cave and find out where we are!"

Rarity let out a sigh of relief, smiling. "Alright - but only if you take it easy."

"You too. That's a nasty bump on your head."

Rarity winced, nodding. "I know. I can feel it throbbing. But I'll live." She caressed the lump with one of her hooves, trying to ignore the pain.

Pinkie nodded. "Good! Now lead the way, you are the flashlight!"

"Yes, yes, I know..." Rarity took a step forward, increasing the brightness of her horn as much as she could manage with her headache. As they left the papers and equipment behind, the rocky pathway became narrower and the upwards slope gradually increased the further they went. Rarity noticed her heartbeat accelerate the closer the walls came to her. She gulped, hoping to get out into the sun quickly.

"Isn't this exciting Rarity? We're in a cave in the unknown having an adventure!"

"Yes, I suppose you could say that..." Rarity muttered, her nervousness rising within her. She glanced left and right, looking for any branch in the path, finding none.

"I wonder what we'll find - treasure? A secret society? Daring Do? A super-uper-duper computer person?"

"A dead end!?" Rarity exclaimed.

"Well, I mean, we could find that but-"

"No, Pinkie, this path literally just ends right here!" She poked her hoof at the rocky wall in front of them, throwing a few stones loose.

"Oh," Pinkie said, "that's not good."

"No, it isn't!" Rarity wailed, putting her face in her hooves. "We're trapped down here! We're going to suffocate!" She lost all concentration, dropping the light spell, trying to focus on her breathing - trying to keep herself from passing out. It was hard to focus - too many thoughts were swirling within her head. She had started the day out organizing the Doctor's house, and now she was doomed to a short existence within this cavern. What was the last thing she said to Sweetie Belle? She couldn't remember...

"Rarity..." Pinkie said. "Open your eyes. And don't light your horn."

"Huh?" Rarity said, looking up into the face of Pinkie, sniffing. "...Why?"

"You can see me."

"Yes Pinkie I can see you, I'm not deaf." She paused for a second. "...I can see you." It didn't take long for her to find the source of the light - a crack between two large rocks embedded into the wall in front of them. She couldn't see through the tiny opening, but she could feel the warmth coming from it.

"Okay..." Rarity said, pursing her lips. "We... We need to be careful, move these rocks out of the way delicately so we don't cause a cave-in..."

"Hiiiii-ya!" Pinkie yelled, colliding with one of the large rocks and sending it flying, creating a large opening in the cavern wall through which sunlight poured in. There was no indication of the cave collapsing on them.

Rarity sighed, averting her eyes from the intense light. "Or we could do that. Throw caution to the wind and risk our lives."

"C'mon Rarity, it's an adventure!"

"Yes, I suppose it is..." She climbed out of the cave, into the open world outside. The scenery was empty for the most part - endless grasslands composed of short, dull blades of grass. Not a single tree was visible, and bushes were hard to come by. The sun high in the sky, but it wasn't noon yet. A chilled breeze blew through the grasses, creating a minimal rippling effect.

This wasn't to say there was nothing there at all, far from it. There was one thing in particular.

"Woah..." Pinkie said.

"My Stars..." Rarity gasped.

Before them stood a city larger than any city they had ever imagined. The buildings rose to an absurd height, their rectangular gray visages casting a tremendous shadow over the landscape. There were no outskirts to be seen - no farms, no little houses, no cabins, nothing but hundreds of skyscrapers getting ever-taller as the two mares' eyes were drawn towards the center. One would expect such a tremendous collection of structures to be bustling with movement and life, but the two of them saw almost none from their vantage point. A couple specks could be seen flying from building to building, but aside from that, the shining buildings seemed lifeless.

"Odd," Rarity said, "I have no idea what this place is."

"Then let's go ask!"

Rarity shrugged. "I don't see that we really have any other choice in the matter." She smirked. "Looks a tad like Manehattan though, so the inhabitants will likely be reasonable."

Pinkie facehooved at Rairty's remark but decided not to comment on it. They set off at once, marching down the small hill they were on top of, heading right for the city. They were less than a mile away, so it quickly dominated their entire field of view. However, even as they approached, they still couldn't see much life. The buildings stood tall, and the streets were abandoned. Everything was just too big and angular, filling Pinkie and Rarity with ominous feelings.

Pinkie frowned. "Where is everypony?"

"I don't know... But this place is far too clean to be empty. We just need to do some looking." Rarity stepped onto the street, hooves clacking on the pavement. The clipping and clopping noises echoed through the silent city.

Pinkie moved to follow, but something made her stop. Her hoof began to twitch and her eyes rolled in her sockets, the Pinkie Sense flipping left and right crazily, like it couldn't decide what it wanted to say. A feeling of wrongness filled her body, her very nature feeling violated by the mere idea of setting foot in this place. Then everything stopped, the feeling reducing to a shudder.

"Pinkie?" Rarity called back. "What's going on?"

"It feels wrong," Pinkie said. "This place. Something's... wrong with it. Like blue raspberries."

Rarity frowned, focusing for a moment on the area. She did feel... something off about this place, more than just the usual abandonment of the street. "I feel something too, Pinkie. But we need to see if we can find some answers, regardless."

"I... I don't think we should."

"Pinkie... Come on. It won't hurt us to just walk in. We can run out at any moment." She looked up at the giant buildings, all of which looked more or less the same - gray bricks with the occasional dark window, varying only by height and the placement of the windows. "We won't leave sight of the outside. It'd be easy to get lost."

"Okay..." Pinkie said, stepping onto the concrete. She let out a yelp, shuddering as she felt something latch onto her, tugging at her very core. She took in a breath, pushing through the wrongness and walking up to Rarity, shaking. "Let's... Let's look quickly okay?"

"Of course," she said. "Helooooo!" Is anyone here? We need some help! could anypony perhaps tell us where we are?"

There were no responses.

"Is this place really abandoned?" Rarity wondered.

"No," Pinkie said, pointing upwards, "I see flying machines."

Sure enough, there was a teardrop-shaped machine flying above them. It was silver and glowed in a few places with a soft blue light. It paid them no mind, flying into one of the windows of a building far above them.

"Huh," Rarity said, holding her hoof over her eyes and squinting. She couldn't see any more flying things in the sky. Scanning the streets, she didn't see anything either.

Wait...

"Look!" Rarity pointed down a street to their left. "A pony!" She galloped as fast as her four legs could carry her, Pinkie bouncing along behind. Pinkie frowned as she bounced - her hooves were starting to hurt. That never happened when she bounced, she could always do it as long as she wanted. ...It was probably the road. Just another reason this place was wrong. She sighed, stopping the bouncing and regressing to a simple gallop behind Rarity.

The pony they were approaching was an earth pony stallion. He was blue and wore a bored expression, looking forward like nothing mattered, stepping with a methodical motion.

"Hey! Hey dear! Do you think you could help a few lost mares out?" Rarity called out.

The stallion lazily looked over towards them, mild annoyance on his face. This annoyance quickly turned into dumbfounded surprise. His eyes widened and he stopped in his tracks, unmoving.

"We seem to be hopelessly lost, mister, and we were hoping you could tell us what this place is?"

The stallion's face transformed from flabbergasted to complete bloodcurdling rage in an instant. His veins popped and he opened his mouth to unleash one of the most terrifying sounds Rarity and Pinkie had ever heard. "GREEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAGHAAAAAAA!"

Rarity was taken aback - so taken aback that she did nothing to stop the hoof flying at her face. She screamed as he made contact, her small frame falling to the ground, blood dripping from the left side of her face.

He would have done much worse had Pinkie not barreled into him in that moment, tossing him aside. It had taken a lot less effort than she had expected, but she didn't dwell on that."You okay, Rarity?"

"N... No," she said, standing up. "I... I can stand though..."

"And so can our friend." Pinkie said, pointing at the pony.

He spat. "êewol spl¯æc cworaxan, accas!"

Pinkie shrugged. "Okay, let's do this!" She pulled a pair of boxing gloves out of her mane and smirked. She rushed him, preparing a spectacular uppercut. However, he had gotten smarter - though not calmer. He twisted to the side, dodging the pink bullet that was Pinkie, making a straight beeline for Rarity. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAACCAAAAAAAAAS!"

This time Rarity was ready, catching his hoof in her magic, twisting the outstretched leg. He roared in pain, tossed to the ground once more. He didn't let this deter him, however. After smashing his hoof on the ground like the earth had offended him in some way, he readied his other front hoof for a swing.

Pinkie pulled out a frying pan and hit him in the back of his head. He made a soft 'gagh...' noise before losing consciousness.

"Can we get out of here now!?" Pinkie pleaded, smacking him on the head again just to make sure.

"Yes," Rarity said, wiping the blood from her face. The two of them galloped away as quickly as they could manage. No more ponies came out of the buildings.

Pinkie felt drained. Something was pulling at her, tugging at her soul, demanding she stay. She didn't listen to it, but moving out of the city was much, much harder than it should have been. There was something more going on that just pavement beneath her hooves.

Then they heard a loud hum behind them. Glancing over their shoulders, they saw one of the flying machines hovering a meter off the ground, going right for them. It was much faster than they were.

"Oh no..." Rarity said. "Step on it Pinkie!"

"I am!" Pinkie snapped back. "Something's wrong!"

The machine deployed two large guns, preparing to riddle them with bullets.

The two of them leaped out of the city and into the grass. Instantly, Pinkie felt revitalized - and relieved. As if the wrongness was over and everything would be fine. They were out, they were free, they could relax...

She had failed to consider the possibility that the machine would still shoot at them. A mixture of lasers and bullets flew out of the barrels at them. They wouldn't even have had time to scream.

But the agonizing death didn't come - instead, an aura of blue magic filled the area between them at the machine, catching all bullets and reflecting all lasers. A mare's voice yelled. "Get your ass out of here! They're not in the city anymore, drone!"

The drone made a beeping noise and flew back into the maze of buildings without so much as a hesitation.

"Oh thank Stars..." Rarity said, letting out a sigh of relief. "Thank you," she said, turning to their savior. Rarity's jaw dropped the moment she saw her. She recognized the mare before them.

Pinkie did as well. "...Minuette!?"

Minuette shot Pinkie a death glare with her deep, blue eyes. "Don't talk to me, bucker." She turned to Rarity. "And you... What the Tartarus were you thinking?!"

"I... Uh... I was lost?" Rarity managed, looking with concern at the small green hat on Minuette's head, unsure what it meant. She felt as if it was important. Pinkie was still reeling from the death glare she had received.

"Friggin idiot..." Minuette muttered. "You two are coming back to camp. With me. Now. No objections."

Neither of them objected, too scared and exhausted to even think of doing something aside from whatever the blue unicorn wanted them to do. She led them away from the gray city, every step hitting the ground much harder than was necessary.

Comments

[BleedingRaindrops]

Interesting. The animosity toward Pinkie Pie and her retreating abilities seems to mean something. That she also feels like a piece of her is missing probably means she is either responsible, or merely blamed for whatever situation is going on. I'm sure answers will be provided next chapter. I eagerly await.

[BleedingRaindrops]

she felt just like someone who hit their head the rocky ground at high speed should feel upon regaining consciousness.

Missing word

"Hiiiii-ya!" Pinkie yelled, colliding with one of the large rocks and sending it flying, creating a large opening in the cavern wall through which sunlight poured through.

Redundant word

"I feel something too Pinkie. But we need to see if we can find some answers, regardless."

Missing comma

[Tangerine Blast]

Niiiiice

[GMBlackjack]

8106551

Fixes made! Thanks!

-GM, master of fix.

[Keywii_Cookies55]

I miss the scene with Pinkie hanging from the stalactite from the original version, but, well, can't have everything. Truthfully I quite enjoyed this significantly more than my own. Let's see how things go now that you're riding freeball.

[ferret]

A city that literally sucks the soul out of you? Built by whom, and what for? Well, I'm intrigued.

I wonder why I bother?

Aww, don't let your jimmies be rustled, mister author. I agree with both! Pinkie is a dangerously powerful, deluded liar, the bringer of laughter to all ponies, even among horrible darkness or sorrow. Rarity is a cruel manipulator whose ruthlessness is limited only by her ambition, who would do anything for just about anyone, a maiden of pure heart if ever there was one.

[Draco Dei]

"C'mon Rarity, it's an adventure!"

And, on a more sane note, "I grew up in a mining/petriculture* family. I know how to assess the risk of cave-in. It was fine.".
*I'd link to the good fic by this name, but am on a tablet.

8106551
True in this case, but it amuses me to note that something feeling "too Pinkie" for somepony's tastes is plausible in general.