Chapter 27 - Murderer
Party Popper clutched both the pouch and the Heartshield close to her chest, staring at Twilight. She could feel her heartbeat quickening. Last time they met, at least Twilight hadn’t known who she was. What she was. She hadn’t been a known threat, hadn’t been a duplicate, hadn’t been actively interfering with a security measure.
“What in Equestria?!” Rainbow Dash said, turning back and forth between Party Popper and Pinkie Pie.
“You were right,” Rarity said. “They look exactly like each other! Apart from the outfit, of course.”
“Of course we do!” Pinkie Pie said. “She’s me!”
Party Popper backed towards the balcony. She had nowhere to run, not really. Not with the pouch making her falls hurt, and the pouch was her only real protection. Even the literal shield she was holding wouldn’t do much for her.
“Alright, impostor,” Twilight said in a hard voice, lighting her horn, “let go of the Heartshield and tell us how you did it.”
Party Popper said nothing.
“If she’s after the shield,” Applejack said, “I reckon she’s a changeling. But if she’s a changeling, the shield ain’t working anyhow, so why’s she after it? It just don't make sense!”
Stay quiet, a part of Popper said, if they think I’m a changeling, they might not realize I’m a clone. “I’m not a changeling,” her mouth said.
Something fizzled in the air in front of her, then drew into the pouch. Twilight looked stunned.
“I can’t grab the shield with my magic,” she said.
“Then let me do it!” Rainbow Dash said. Popper had only a moment to dodge as the pegasus dove towards her – and fell flat on the floor once she got in range of the pouch. Apparently it could suppress flight too.
Party Popper retreated to the edge of the balcony, still facing the Council of Friendship. Rainbow Dash got back up and lunged towards her again, but Popper dodged to one side so Rainbow Dash wound up flying off the balcony. She regained control in mid-air and returned to Twilight’s side.
“If you’re not a changeling,” Twilight said, “why are you doing this? That shield only protects us against them.”
“Why,” Popper echoed, growling a little. After all this time, Twilight Sparkle had the audacity to ask ‘why’. “Why?!” She could feel rage and tears and fear all welling up in equal measure. “Because you killed them!”
“...what?” Twilight looked taken aback. “Who are you talking about? We’ve never killed anypony.”
Popper stiffened. “Right. They weren’t ‘anypony’ to you, were they.”
“Enough with the riddles,” Rainbow Dash said. “What the buck are you? Why do you look like Pinkie?”
“Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said, “that’s rude.”
“She attacked Pinkie! We can be rude!”
Fluttershy backed away from Rainbow Dash. “I’m sorry.”
“It is still a tad uncouth,” Rarity commented.
Rainbow Dash turned back to Popper. “So? Out with it!”
“I told you,” Pinkie Pie said, “she’s me!”
“What do you mean by that, Pinkie?” Twilight asked.
“Remember that time I used the Mirror Pool?” Pinkie said. “I think one of me must have slipped away!”
Twilight’s eyes widened as she looked back to Popper. “I— but— I didn’t—”
Popper couldn't take this anymore. “I told you, P-Pinkie,” she began, “I’m not. buzzing. YOU!”
In one quick motion, Popper opened the pouch wide and spread the remaining throne dust over all of the Council members. Now free from its effects herself, she lifted the Heartshield to her mane and slipped it in.
“Yes, I’m a clone, but I’m not Pinkie Pie!” she said to the shocked ponies, and jumped onto the balcony railing. “And all the other clones that you rounded up and executed just because some book told you to weren’t either!”
With both now-unburdened forehooves, she grabbed hold of her hat. With effort, she ripped it off, bits of her mane that still wouldn’t let go of the glue coming along for the ride. She spiked it down onto the balcony.
“I’m Party Popper,” she declared, “and I’m me! Nopony else! And I’m not letting you murder me for that.”
With that, she jumped off.
Twilight rushed to the edge of the balcony, watching as the mare – Party Popper? – galloped along the street below, away from the castle. Anypony but Pinkie Pie or a pegasus should have been dead or gravely injured after a fall like that, Twilight thought.
“I’m going after her!” Rainbow Dash said, but when she tried to take off, she fell back to the floor like when she’d gotten close to Party Popper before. “Aw, what the buck!”
“Huh,” Pinkie Pie said behind her. “I guess I was wrong.”
“Whatever do you mean, darling?” Rarity said. “She said she was a clone, like you guessed.”
“Nah, she can’t be me. I’d never call myself something so close to ‘party pooper’.”
Twilight kept staring after Party Popper, lost in thought.
Because you killed them!
Twilight hadn’t killed the clones, had she? She had just sent them back where they came from, like the book said. Right?
She wasn’t a murderer.
…that you rounded up and executed just because some book told you to…
She… she wasn’t a murderer, right?
Right?
Elsewhere:
"Well, I wasn't in Ponyville when that happened, but yeah, Twilight's told me about it. Reluctantly," Starlight Glimmer added with a grimace. "I think she was afraid I might do it too."
"I remember that," Twilight's dragon friend said. Strike, was it? "There were so many Pinkies. Like, way too many."
"Do you know how?" Valvula asked.
"Oh yeah, there's this pond—" Strike was interrupted by Starlight's hoof in front of his mouth.
"Wait. Why?" Starlight eyed Valvula. "We don't have to worry about a horde of yous storming into Ponyville, do we?"
Valvula was treading dangerously with this investigation. Asking questions like this threatened to blow her cover, and if that happened she'd have to leave. She would naturally circle back and become another pony, but she'd lose everything she'd built for herself in this town. Her friends wouldn't know the new her. Enterprise might even resent the old her.
But she hadn't been able to shake the feeling that the Queen was going to need more information on the clone incident. It hadn't seemed important when it happened, two years ago, but now that one of the clones was on her way to the hive, any intel would be good intel.
"No. Something reminded me and I got curious."
"That's all?" Starlight said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," Valvula confirmed. She turned to Strike. "A pond?"
Strike grabbed Starlight's hoof with his claws and pulled it down from his mouth. "Yeah! If I remember right, it's in the Everfree Forest somewhere, in a cave. Pinkie told me you just go up to the pond and say a rhyme and a clone comes out of the water. It goes like, uh… something something… 'doubly mared'… Or was it 'cared'...?"
"Look," Starlight said, "all I'm saying is I've done reckless-and-maybe-kind-of-evil-plan research before, and this sounds a lot like a reckless-and-maybe-kind-of-evil-plan research kind of question. Not that I'm saying you're evil, but you know…"
"Reckless?" Valvula supplied.
"...yeah," Starlight admitted sheepishly.
"That's fine. I'm neither."
"...'doubly squared'? No, wait..."
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YES YOU ARE!
Now... for devil's advocate... the spell did return them to where they came from (alledgedly, which is what we shall assume) which means... what? They reduced thinking creatures back to water? (Which we can definitely say is murder) or that Pinkie Pie's from multiple dimensions were returned home? (evidence doesn't really support that...)
Ok let's all calm down before things escalated
Because she not a changeling
So...
The shield is now away from it's anchoring and the shield... still holds? Then it gets stuffed into an extra dimensional space. A lawyer could legitimately argue it no longer exists to hold the shield up...
Gosh... I wish there was a changeling present in the scene.
Yeah I remember that thorey back in season 6 when Pinkie talk to the news reporter she was in the background
I'm sorry party popper you are Pinkie Pie 😥
No It's popper Pinkie Pie
No your not Twilight... we just send them to the pool they didn't technically die 😰 or something
11869436
This bit is actually a callback / payoff to a detail waaay back in chapter 1, in which Party Popper thinks this about her name:
11869441
Ohhh ok I didn't know that that's very clever I like that 😂
The thing about this whole "murderer" argument is that it depends entirely on context, and just what exactly the spell that returned them to the pool actually did and how...something that, as of yet, still has not been made totally clear, and has, up to now, been left unclear quite deliberately, precisely because of these sort of implications.
That said, the fact that Party Popper has clearly proved the mirror clones were just as self-aware, intelligent, and arguably alive as the base Pinkie DOES make it a whole lot harder to argue against it. But in the defense of Twi and the others, because Pinkie's memories clearly weren't duplicated for the clones, that hadn't been very clear while in the midst of the incident. Assuming they weren't actually all of that and just magical constructs faking it honestly would be a fair mistake to have made, going off what incomplete information they had at that time. And testing to determine otherwise would've probably necessitated keeping the clones active and around for much longer than would've been ideal for the situation, given how much trouble the clones were causing either way, and even then...there might've still been enough room for doubt that it'd still be hard to be certain. It was one of those situations where a solution was needed now and not delayed indefinitely while the ethics are more fully weighed out, ethics that, at the time, weren't even being questioned anyway because no one had thought there was a need to.
Not to say that Party Popper here doesn't have a good argument to make here, because she obviously does either way. Particularly when you consider that whether or not you want to define it as actual murder, it was still ultimately robbing her of her freedoms as an individual. But looking at it from the other side of the table, the argument can be made that Party Popper's making the same mistake of simply assuming she knows the whole story of what's happening and acting off of incomplete information, whilst not stopping to consider other possibilities that might make it not actually seem as it is and that malice hadn't actually been intended, even if we all agree malice was still done even if just by mistake.
Even if Party Popper dies in the next ten seconds, she's accomplished her intended objective (remove the Heartshield) and the secret objective she didn't even realize was possible (get Twilight to question the life choices that led to her becoming a mass murderer). Everything from this point forward is just a bonus.
Oh dear this is so not good at all so it looks like Twilight and the others finally caught up with party popper and tried to figure out what kind of creature she is but then Pinkie Pie told them that that's her clone which the triggers party popper and basically screaming and shouting at them mostly at Twilight what she's done to the others calling her a killer which that's not from the truth so she went and threw the dust at everywhere disabling the Magic Shield and everybody inside and she made her Escape and Twilight still thinking about what she said that did she really took somebody's life meanwhile it looks like somebody is asking about the mirror pool and this the disguise changeling trying to get information about the Clone what is he up to and how are they going to stop this situation I guess we'll find out next time
11869477
Indeed!
Sadly no one has really been arguing for or against (sort of). Most the against has been emotional appeals that have no substance behind it. You are the closest I have seen to saying* "Twilight did not break a law." Correct. I feel she didn't break any law or did anything wrong... but is still a murderer. Even believing them to be alive I too would have murdered them in understanding, and acceptance, of it. My core problem with Twilight killing the clones is a lack of respect, or acknowledgement, for life and the (disturbingly too common) lack of ethics in her spellcasting. She picked up the spell in under a day (possibly under an hour) counting the time to just find the spell...
The solution was a rush job to put it mildly and Twilight was dismissive of any mundane methods. Finding the real Pinkie should be a no brainer; it was the only Pinkie that wasn't having a good time, was despondent even, and (if given a more lengthy questioning) had all memories.
*Yoshi might have but I don't read those hidden posts on principle.
That's right. Back to where they came from. Back to non-existence, to oblivion. Ritorno al Nulla
Randomly appearing and placed drainpipes are randomly useful?
11869755
That'd be one way of getting down... A bit action-hero-y, maybe, the approach of an urban wingless Daring Do.
Party Popper... tends to be a little more direct and less cool than that, though.
On a totally unrelated note, she had just spread all her remaining throne dust over the Mane Six, the pouch of throne dust being the reason she's been feeling significantly more pain after falls lately.
man, i hope party popper becomes more neutrally aligned. i don't want chrysalis to win, but i don't like the idea of popper suddenly forgiving the others for everything as well - unless you pull it off realistically/convincingly.
11869781
When I read her throwing the hat on the ground I was expecting her to jump in and jump out anywhere else. Perhaps all the way to home for a good cry...
Been high on adrenaline these last few hours; she is going to crash if she doesn't get some sugar in. Food would be better but I doubt that will come to pass.
11869567
What do you think would happen if I sent you "back where you came from" when you were less than a day old?
11870215
"Is there a return policy on this child?"
11870237
"Why yes, dear madame!"
"Please stare at that wall and don't blink."
Dang, I might've actually chosen the perfect time to get into this. The big moment finally happened. Loved how you handled the built-up confrontation, by the way.
11870237
Only if you have the receipt.
One of the episodes for me that was enjoyable until the end. Murder pony indeed.
Amazing how much Twilight and co is pardoned yet others not....
I still think Lightning Dust should have been given a second chance like the original script instead of having her badge torn off and then given to Rainbow....only a clueless idiot would fly her balloon into a military area during training.
Princess of friendship indeed.