Friendship is Shining: Multi-Pink-Cation Problems

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Boiled Cakes

Twas a rough tide upon the hot cocoa sea. There were mounds of whipped cream as high as a pony, and marshmallows of every size floated as far as the eye could see. Rainbow sprinkles poured from the sky. Most ponies would not even consider sailing in such conditions.

But Captain Pie was not most ponies. While many claimed she was mad, she saw herself as brilliant, and willing to take the risks few others would dare. And her mighty ship, The Sundae Knight, was the finest there was. It had been made from the finest waffle cones, and reinforced with the richest, darkest, chocolate sauces. It was one of the toughest ships on the seven seas.

"All hooves to your stations!" Captain Pie ordered. "The storms about to get tough, but we have to make it to Neigh-verland. The Lost Colts are waiting for their peanut butter and strawberry ice cream."

"Yes, ma'am."

"As you order."

"Right away."

"Other sounds of acknowledgement."

Quickly, figures moved across the ship, getting into numerous positions. They and the ship was braced and ready, facing any waves that came at them. The Sundae Knight pitched and yawed wildly, but managed to stay upright. It may have been rough, but they could make it.

Something bright red flew through the air, striking the ship on the side. It created a sticky explosion on impact, leaving a gooey and cherry smelling spot.

"We're under attack!" one of the crew members yelled.

"Hold positions!" Captain Pie yelled. "Ready the cannons. Gummy! Bring me my telescope!"

First mate Gummy made his way to the captain's side. After standing there a second, he coughed up the spyglass.

"Pinkie."

Picking up the glass, Captain Pie gave it a shake before looking through it.

Another ship came into view, and on it stood the a familiar pink form, glaring in their direction.

Pinkie let out a gasp.

"It's --"

"Pinkie."

"No," Captain Pie said. "It's the Dread Pirate Diane."

Putting the spyglass away, Captain Pie turned to her first mate.

Before she could give orders, she felt a push against her side as everything started to shake.

"Pinkie."

Pinkie Pie opened her eyes, finding herself in her room. To her left, she could make out two shadowy figures, one of which was reaching out to shake her.

"Pumpkin? Pound?" she asked, sitting up and yawning. Her eyes drifted to the clock. It read three-fourteen a.m.

Giving a clap of her hooves, she turned the lights on.

"What's wro--AAAAAAHH!" she yelped, jumping back.

Pound and Pumpkin Cake were standing at the side of her bed, as she had figured. What she had not been expecting was that the two of them would be covered in large red welts. Pumpkin had her teeth clenched while Pumpkin shifted from hoof to hoof, wings flickering.

"They itch," Pound whined out.

"Really bad," Pumpkin added. "Can you do something?"

Horsey hives. The Cakes leave the twins her care, and they had to come down with horsey hives! The poor babies.

Pinkie Pie scrunched up her face as she thought. She and her sister had suffered through it themselves as well, and they did not have calamine lotion right away. Her mom had done something. It was something... with...

OATMEAL! Their mom had forced them to bathe in oatmeal. Pinkie remembered now. It was so weird at the time. She had even asked her mom if she was crazy.

It had worked though.

"Okay," Pinkie said as she hopped out of bed. "You two decide who gets which tub and fill them with warm water." She started for the door. "I'll head downstairs and get the oatmeal."

"Oatmeal?" the twins asked together.

"I don't think I can eat an entire bathtub of it," Pound added, causing Pumpkin to roll her eyes and smack herself in the face.

"We're not eating it, doofus. We're going to take a bath in it."

A small snicker escaped Pinkie as she left the two, making her way downstairs toward the kitchen. The conversation reminded her a little of herself and Limestone. Although, Pinkie had been far more certain that she could in fact eat an entire tub of oatmeal.

Plus, they did not seem to be too miserable about being sick.

As she reached the counter, Pinkie stop, eyes going wide.

The twins were sick. It did not look bad enough to need to go to the hospital, but they were going to need to stay upstairs. Pinkie would have to keep nearby most of the time in case they needed something. Yeah, she could leave them, but it would be better if she did not do so very long. Then there was Sugarcube Corner. With Mr. and Mrs. Cake gone, and the twins sick, it would mean that Pinkie would have to run the whole place by herself. She had done it before, and could, but it would be a lot of work. Especially if she were to keep an eye on the twins, set up for the party, do all the advance prep work, and serve customers. Making deliveries would be difficult, and there would be almost no time to check on Shiny.

Actually, maybe she could not deal with everything. It was not like she could be in two places at once.

...Or could I?

Her granny used to tell her all sorts of neat stories, including one about a magic pool in The Everfree Forest. Pinkie had even found it once, but did not try it. But if she did go there and used it, then she would definitely be able to totally handle everything.

Grabbing a bag of oatmeal, Pinkie Pie rushed back upstairs, barely touching any of the steps on way.

"Here," she said as she tossed it to the twins. "Pour enough in to cover the entire surface and then soak in it. I have to take care of something super quick, and should be back before opening."

With that done, Pinkie Pie zipped back downstairs and out the door, leaving behind a very confused pair of itchy foals.

It being so late at night was no problem for Pinkie Pie. She could make her way through Ponyville blindfolded (although, after the last time, she was no longer permitted to due to court order). As such, with only the light of the moon and stars, she was able to get to The Everfree Forest without any problem. The forest itself was a bit more difficult, but she had made through before when she and the others were facing Nightmare Moon. And this time, she did not have to go all the way to the middle.

Where the brambles are thickest, there you will find
a pond beyond the most twisted of vines.

After searching, she found some brambles. Looking further, she found one part that was so thick, it would have been tough for even a rabbit to make it through. With some pushes, some hops, some squirms, and a lot of yanks, tugs, and scratches, Pinkie was able to make it through. A grin spread across her face as she stood on the other side of the thorny bushes, tugging sharp twigs from her mane.

There, ahead of her, was... a hole?

As she moved toward it, Pinkie could swear that she heard whispering, and maybe giggling? Ears perking and swiveling, she looked around, searching the area around her. Everything looked normal... well... as normal as anything was in The Everfree. There were no predators or other ponies that she could see.

Taking a deep breath, Pinkie walked toward the hole. There was a slope, albeit somewhat steep, that let her make her way down. The pathway was just wide enough for her to through, and she could feel the top of it rubbing against her poofy mane. As she continued deeper, the space grew larger and larger, the path snaking back and forth as it descended.

The path gave way to a large cavern. Inside, small plants glowed and twinkled with a pale blue light of their own. Stalactites hung down, with water dripping from them and stalagmites pointed up, both them glistening as Pinkie walked past.

In the center of it was a large pool of water. Pale blue light shined down from somewhere above, a spotlight marking the pool's presence. As Pinkie got closer, the water was calm and smooth, not a single ripple on the surface. Looking down, she could see herself as clear as looking at one of Rarity's boutique mirrors.

How did the next part go?

"And into her own reflection she stared,
yearning for one whose reflection she shared,
and solemnly sweared not to be scared
at the prospect of being doubly mared."

With that, she stepped forward, walking into the water.

It felt strange as she moved through it. Pinkie could feel the coolness of the water move across her, and she could feel the weight of it pressing down all around her, but she did not feel wet. It was like the water had a skin and was moving over her instead of her actually moving through it. She could also catch lines of pink flowing off her, like paint was being washed off her coat.

There was also... something else. It was hard to say what exactly, but something felt wrong.

As she climbed out of the pool, she felt a little light-headed. Shaking it off, Pinkie turned around and grabbed the hooves sticking out of the pool.

Out came a pony that looked exactly like her. After blinking, it looked at her and grinned.

"Hi," the Pinkie clone said.

"Hi," Pinkie said, grinning back. "I'm Pinkie Pie." The grin vanished as her mouth puckered and brow furrowed. "Although I guess you're kind of Pinkie Pie as well. But we can't all be called Pinkie Pie." Her eyes lit up as she let out a gasp. "I know! You're the first clone, so we'll call you Pinkie Clone One. PC1 for short."

"Okay," PC1 agreed. Her head tilted. "Wait, if I'm the first, does that mean that there are going to be more?"

"Yep. We have a lot to do, and the more of us there are to do it, the quicker and better it will be."

"Right!" PC1 cheered out. Grabbing Pinkie, she brought her back to the pool where original Pinkie had entered.

This time, they both repeated the lines:

"And into her own reflection she stared,
yearning for one whose reflection she shared,
and solemnly sweared not to be scared
at the prospect of being doubly mared."

The two of them entered side by side.

As she climbed out, Pinkie Pie felt lightheaded again. This time, her vision blurred as everything started tilting to the right. It forced her to lower her head, closing her head and taking deep breaths.

"And into her own reflection she stared," she suddenly heard three voices saying together. Pinkie's eyes shot open as a tingle went down her back. Getting up, she managed to turn around just in time to see three Pinkie clones step into the pool.

"No! Sto...ooo....uuuhhh..."

Everything around Pinkie spun as she suddenly found herself on falling to the cave floor. She managed to catch sight of six pink blurs just before everything went black.

Comments

[SuperPinkBrony12]

Oh no! So with each clone she makes, the real Pinkie loses a part of her existence?!

[Comickook]

Yikes! Great job on this latest chapter. Indeed, that was a well-thought-out side-effect to the Mirror Pool's use. Anyway, I have a bad feeling about the next few chapters, but "bad feeling" in the way that's good for story-telling.

At any rate, I'll very certainly be looking forward to more, but will also be completely understanding about the fact that real world concerns have to come first.

[Alticron]

Nice chapter, but you may want to edit where you wrote "and" twice in a row.

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

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