S3 E3: Too Many Pinkie Pies (What If?)
Twilight Sparkle hadn't been expecting Princess Celestia to start her "advanced" magical training so soon after the defeat of King Sombra. But only a few days after what had transpired in the Crystal Empire, Twilight received a scroll from Princess Celestia informing her of the first of many spells to practice. The letter didn't specify for what reason exactly, but Twilight wasn't about to disobey an order from Princess Celestia. Besides, studying new spells would be fun and exciting.
Spike was now watching as Twilight was attempting to practice a spell she'd just read. It involved transforming objects into other objects, and Twilight had decided to focus on an apple she had planted on a table outside. Sparks were pouring out from her horn as the familiar violet red aura surrounded its tip.
Suddenly, from out of the blue Pinkie Pie appeared and shouted! "Whatcha doin'?!"
This surprise appearance caused Twilight to lose her focus as she screamed! Her beam went astray, missing the apple and instead bouncing off of the table. It struck a bird, transforming it into an orange (albeit one with wings). "Pinkie!" Twilight groaned in annoyance! "You startled me! What was that for?!"
The pink party pony just explained by unwinding her hooves. "Just wanted to give you a big old hug, Twilight. After all, funs are funnerific. Especially when you're giving them to your best friends," And she then added. "I was on my way to see what Rarity was up to, but now I'm interested in what you're doing."
The studious unicorn sighed. "Well, I was practicing this new transfiguration spell Princess Celestia assigned me to studying. You know, before you so rudely interrupted me, Pinkie."
"Sorry about that," The pink party pony sincerely apologized. "But you know what? That looks like fun! You should turn me into an orange now!" And she started bouncing up and down in delight.
"Uh, I don't think that's a very good idea, Pinkie." Spike protested.
Pinkie waved a hoof and dismissed the concern. "Relax, I promise I'll hold still. Come on, Twilight! I'm ready when you are!" But just then she happened to notice Rarity approaching and called out to her. "Hey, Rarity. You're just in time! You wanna watch Twilight turn me into an orange? It's gonna be funna fun fun!"
"More fun than designing an entirely new ensemble all by yourself?" Rarity questioned before removing a robe and revealing a stylish new dress she'd just created. It was a lovely two shades of pink with white trim on the collar and buttons around the shoulder area a lovely light pink. And Rarity also had a matching pair of hot pink slippers to go with the dress. "Is it not gorgeous?"
Pinkie took one look at the dress and immediately a horrifying realization dawned on her as she gasped! "Oh no, I can't believe I forgot! I overslept this morning and that threw my fun schedule all out of whack! I was supposed to see you making that new dress! Oh, but I was so busy with Twilight I forgot all about it!" And she dashed away, screaming loudly! "I can't be missing out on any more fun!"
Rarity blinked in disbelief. "What was that all about?"
Spike immediately remarked. "We weren't going to turn her into an orange, I swear! We're not that crazy."
Meanwhile, the pink party pony was running all over Ponyville in pursuit of any and all possible fun she might be missing out on! Nothing was too small to pass up.
The first such thing to catch Pinkie's interest was Rainbow Dash, who was using her tail to swat down a patch of clouds all around her. "Hey, Rainbow," Pinkie quickly greeted. "What's up?"
"Just trying to lighten up these clouds a little," Rainbow explained. "They're getting too heavy and they're gonna turn into fog if I don't take care of it."
"Great! Sounds like fun! Let me help!" The pink coated earth pony insisted, rapidly running about for a minute or so!
Rainbow Dash was in complete disbelief and even ended up disoriented from how fast Pinkie moved!
But all Pinkie could think about was what other sort of fun she might be missing out on. She zoomed across Ponyville, stopping briefly when she saw Applejack pulling a cart with Apple Bloom inside it.
"Howdy there, Pinkie Pie," Applejack greeted her fellow earth pony. "How it's hangin'?"
"Sorry, no time to chat!" Pinkie quickly declared. "But that looks like fun! See ya later!" And she zoomed away almost as fast as she had appeared!
Fluttershy was busy hosting a small tea party with her animal friends out in the woods, and was most surprised to see Pinkie Pie of all ponies come suddenly and unexpectedly zooming up to her. "Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy blinked in surprise.
Pinkie panted, clearly out of breath and struggling to catch it. "Fluttershy... there... you... are..." She quickly panted, drawing in deep breaths whenever she could. "Doing... anything... fun?"
"Uh... no, not at the moment." The pegasus mare replied after thinking it over for a second or two.
"Oh... thank... goodness." Pinkie remarked before she fainted and hit the ground with a thud, though thankfully unharmed. It was so hard to keep track of who was doing what and what was fun. And soon, she was going to resort to a rather unusual method to try to solve the problem.
The pink party pony eventually came to and found herself resting on a sofa while butterflies gently fluttered all around her. One even landed on her noise, tickling it slightly.
"Feeling better now, Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy asked with sincere concern. "I hate seeing you get so worked up all the time."
"Oh, I've never been better, Fluttershy," Pinkie Pie declared as she sat up on the sofa. "You're a good friend. In fact, all of our friends are good friends. And that's kind of the problem. There's so much fun going on in Ponyville that I can't keep track of it all anymore. It's driving me even more loco in the coco than before!"
"Oh my!" Fluttershy gasped with worry. "I had no idea it was that bad. I could promise never to do anything fun without you if that'll make you feel better, Pinkie."
The pink party pony would hear nothing of such an idea. "I can't ask you to do that, Fluttershy. A pony like me asking other ponies not to have fun would be like asking a fish not to swim. Believe me, I've tried," She hopped off the sofa a moment later. "There's got to be an easier solution to all of this."
Just then, Rainbow Dash happened to come trotting up. "Oh, there you are, Pinkie Pie. I was just about to ask you something."
Applejack came trotting up at the same time. "What a coincidence, I was about to do the same thing," And she said to Pinkie Pie. "I got somethin' I reckon you'll be interested in."
"Same here," Rainbow declared. "It's gonna be tons of fun!"
The pink party pony's eyes lit up with delight! "Of course! Why didn't I think of this sooner?! I can just have everypony bring their fun requests to me. That way I'll know what fun's gonna happen when and I can plan my days around that. Sometimes I amaze myself with how smart I am!"
Rainbow only replied with a grin. "Well, Pinkie, if you're interested I'm gonna be chilling out after work tomorrow. I was thinking we could meet at the old swimming hole and just spend some quality time together, maybe catch some rays and work up a tan."
"I am so totally there!" Pinkie declared without hesitation as she bounced around.
Applejack then spoke up. "Funny, tomorrow's when my family and I are gonna be puttin' up the new addition to the barn. In fact, we're gonna be renovatin' the whole barn from top to bottom."
"And I'm so totally there as well!" Pinkie Pie also declared.
However, Rainbow Dash noticed a problem with Pinkie's agreements. "Uh, Pinkie, I'm not gonna be waiting all day at the swimming hole. And Applejack's barn raising isn't gonna take all day either. I don't see how you're gonna be able to be in two places at once tomorrow," But she replied in an unconcerned tone. "Whatever you decide to do is fine, though."
Yet it was that very thing which made the party pony freeze right in her tracks. "I have to choose?! Oh, it wasn't supposed to be like this! Why'd you both have to do something fun on the same day?!" And she gulped and swallowed hard as her blue eyes widened. "This could be a problem."
The very next day, Twilight was once again practicing the new transfiguration spell Princess Celestia had assigned to her. She was convinced that nothing was going to distract her this time and had even chosen to practice in the exact same spot as yesterday (and with the exact same object to boot).
Yet as the studious unicorn mare was preparing to light up her horn, she was interrupted by the sound of rapidly rushing hooves and the sight of a pink colored blur zooming past! The blur soon revealed itself to be none other than Pinkie Pie, who now held a worn stop watch in her hooves and was looking down at it with great concern.
Twilight forced a smile as she approached her pink coated friend and did her best to ask with sincere interest. "What do you think you're doing, Pinkie Pie?"
Pinkie looked up from the stop watch, locking eyes with Twilight. "Oh, hey Twilight. Don't mind me. I'm just timing myself to see how fast I can get back and forth between the swimming hole and Sweet Apple Acres," And she was quick to explain the reason behind her attempted observation. "I'm trying to see if I can get the time down so that I can be at the swimming hole when Rainbow jumps off the swing, make it to Sweet Apple Acres to see the renovations start, and then make it back to the swimming hole in time for Rainbow to land. That way I won't be missing too much of anything either way."
"Oh, is that all?" Twilight replied before she couldn't resist letting out a giggle. "Well I'm sorry to tell you this, Pinkie, but what you're trying to do is impossible. No matter what, there's simply no way you can make it halfway across Ponyville and back."
"Not unless you could run as fast as a superhero," Spike pointed out. "One of my all time favorites can run faster than the naked eye. Of course, that also makes her insanely hyperactive."
Pinkie's heart sank upon realizing that superpowers wouldn't be an option, and that under normal circumstances her attempt to get her timing down would amount to nothing. But then she remembered something. "Wait a minute, Twilight! You once studied time travel. You should know how to slow down time or something like that."
Twilight only shook her head. "You'll also remember that I vowed never to touch time travel after what happened the last time. It's not something to be messed with just for the sake of it," Then she began to trot away. "I'm afraid that the only way you could observe the fun at both activities was if you were in two places at once. But that would be impossible."
Upon hearing the phrase "Two places at once" something deep inside Pinkie's brain began to stir. Her head ticked slowly, not unlike the hands on a clock, before suddenly a realization dawned on her and her blue eyes widened with hope! "That's it, Twilight! You're a genius! I mean it!" And then she zoomed away again while declaring. "No time to say goodbye, see ya later!"
Both Twilight and Spike blinked in confusion. Neither knew what Pinkie could possibly have thought about now. They knew the mare could have some pretty crazy ideas, so chances were this was another one of them. At least, that's what they thought as the moment passed and the earth pony was already far away. "So, does mean practice is over?" Spike hopefully asked Twilight.
"Of course not," Twilight shook her head in reply. "Back to work!"
Now all alone, Pinkie Pie was trotting deep into the Everfree Forest while thinking to herself. "I hope I'm remembering it right. How did Nana Pie's stories go again?" Racking her brain she began to recite aloud: "Where the branches are thickest there you will find, a pond beyond the wildest of vines."
Several sharp black branches barred Pinkie's way in the mist filled part of the forest, but she brushed past them as best she could despite obtaining a few small scratches in the process. Then suddenly, as she reached a small clearing she tumbled down a deep hole!
The hole led down to an underground cavern that was only illuminated by some of the gemstones surrounding it. And there, in the center of the area, rested a rather large and reflective pond. The pink party pony gasped in amazement! "The mirror pool! Nana Pie's stories were true after all!" She began to trot forward while becoming aware of her own voice due to the echo, and she scolded herself. "Ah, Pinkie. You have got to stop talking to yourself or ponies will think you're crazy," With a blush she declared. "Starting... now, of course."
Yet this little promise to herself was soon broken as Pinkie approached the edge of the pool and gazed down at its smooth, reflective surface as she began to speak aloud again. "And into her own reflection she stared, longing for one whose reflection she shared. And solemnly sweared not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly mared." And with that she slowly stepped down into the pool until her entire body was submerged.
A Pinkie Pie emerged from the waters on the other side of the pool and was quickly greeted by one that was already there. "It works! It actually works!" Pinkie Pie cheered! "I've got a double me! This is the best thing ever!"
The other Pinkie didn't seem to have much of a concern about the mirror pool, all she seemed to care about was one thing. "Where's the fun?! Where's the fun?! Come on, tell me! Where's the fun?!"
The original Pinkie just patted her clone on the head. "Patience, my double me. Fun will come soon, I promise. Just follow me," She then led her clone back up through the hole she'd fallen down earlier and together they exited the Everfree Forest. "Now then," She explained to the clone once they were back out in daylight on the outskirts of the forest. "I'm gonna go down to the old swimming hole and meet up with Rainbow Dash. You go over to Sweet Apple Acres to attend the renovations with Applejack."
"Rightarooni, will do!" The clone saluted and prepared to race away as fast as possible!
"Ah ah ah," Pinkie lightly scolded her double. "You have to make sure to report back to me on every little detail. That way it'll be like I was there the whole time. We can't let anypony know about this little secret, at least not yet. If they found out they'd take it the wrong way and start freaking out."
The clone just nodded. "Okay, gotcha! I go to Sweet Apple Acres, then I meet you at the swimming hole and tell you everything, and nopony else ever finds out."
"Exactly," The original pink party pony said with a knowing wink. And then she excitedly exclaimed! "Oh, this is the best thing ever! I'm so glad I thought of it! Now off to double my fun!" And the two Pinkies went their separate ways with no further fanfare.
The clone Pinkie Pie raced across town to get to Sweet Apple Acres! She'd been told that was where there was fun to be found, and there was no way in Equestria she was going to miss that fun if she could help it.
However, Fluttershy happened to see this Pinkie Pie off in the distance. Not knowing that it wasn't the real Pinkie Pie, she called out to what she assumed was her friend. "Oh, Pinkie Pie. I wasn't expecting to see you here today. I thought you'd be with either Rainbow Dash or Applejack by now."
The Pinkie Pie clone froze right on the spot. She didn't know how to respond to Fluttershy's statement without drawing attention to herself. "Hi... uh... you..."
"It's Fluttershy." Fluttershy pointed out.
"Oh! I knew that, I did!" The clone nervously insisted. "I was just... you know, testing you," And she giggled and tried to flash a sincere smile. "You passed, Fluttershy. Sorry, can't stay and talk! Gotta get to Sweet Apple Acres!"
However, the pegasus mare with a gentle coat of butter yellow immediately gestured a hoof to a picnic blanket she'd set up. Many of her animal friends were resting on while holding tea cups. "I know you wanted me to run all fun requests through you, and I promised I wouldn't do anything fun. But I just couldn't resist holding a little tea party," And she offered. "Do you wanna join us? It's okay if you say no, I won't mind."
"Oh... that looks like fun, but what Applejack's doing is also gonna be fun!" The Pinkie Pie clone nervously commented as she started to break out into a sweat! "Ooh! Too many choices! I can't take the pressure! The walls are closing in!"
Fluttershy blinked in confusion and concern. "Uh, we're outside. You feeling okay, Pinkie? You seem... troubled."
"W-who me?!" The clone giggled rather nervously and audibly. "I'm not troubled! It's all in your mind! In fact... I'm not actually here! Just pretend you didn't see me! I've uh... gotta go now... bye bye!" And after waving a hoof she took off as fast as her hooves would let her! She was going to have to tell her creator about this unexpected snag.
Meanwhile, the unaware original Pinkie Pie had made her way down to the watering hole where Rainbow Dash was waiting. The pegasus mare was currently resting on a foldable beach chair with a Daring Do book resting off to her left side.
Pinkie immediately jumped into the water as she pulled out an inflatable inner tube and inflated it by herself in mid air! She hit the water with an audibly splash as she had on a blue colored snorkeling mask. Her mane and tail had already gotten quite wet and thus had shed their usual poofiness. "Hiya, Dashie! I'm here now, the fun can start!" She declared while splashing about. "The water's totally wet and everything."
However, Rainbow Dash yawned as she adjusted the black sunglasses resting atop her head. "Sorry, Pinkie Pie," She sincerely apologized while stretching. "Cloud busting wore me out more than I thought it would," As her pink coated friend approached she declared. "Right now I just wanna rest."
"Gotcha," Pinkie nodded in understanding. "I'll just have the rest of my fun real quietly."
Rainbow yawned a bit, glad for the understanding. "You know, I actually kind of thought you'd be at Applejack's right now. It's not every day the barn gets renovated completely." She commented to her earth pony friend.
Pinkie Pie laughed. "Oh, I'm there already."
The brash speedster chuckled. "Very funny, Pinkie Pie. You can't be in two places at once. I wasn't born yesterday you know. It's totally okay if you chose to hang out with me."
"I did," Pinkie sincerely nodded. "But I'm also hanging out with Applejack."
"Oh, you mean they already had the renovations and everything?" Rainbow pondered. "Didn't think they'd start so early."
The pink party pony just laughed again. "They didn't. It's happening now. Let's just say I found a way to have me wherever I need to be whenever I need to be. Almost like there's another me, in fact."
Rainbow blinked briefly in confusion before deciding it was best not to try and question the matter any further. There was probably an explanation that she wasn't aware of. Besides, it really didn't matter to her. "Okay, I guess that's interesting. Does Applejack know?"
"Maybe, maybe not," Pinkie giggled. "All that matters is that I get to have fun with both my friends," Then she jumped off of the swing and descended towards the water. "Whee." She quietly cheered, halting herself just before impact to avoid making a big (and loud) splash.
Rainbow Dash's moderate violet eyes blinked a bit upon witnessing the display. "How'd you do that?" She questioned her party planning friend.
Pinkie poked her head up from the water. "Just trying to show a little respect for my friend," She sincerely answered in a quiet tone of voice. Then she happened to notice her clone urgently waving to her from afar. "Oh, that's my other me trying to get my attention. Just wait right there, I'll be back soon." And she emerged from the water, quickly drying herself off before trotting away.
Rainbow blinked again, this time in disbelief. She even rubbed her eyes to be sure she wasn't seeing things. For a brief moment she caught a glimpse of a second Pinkie Pie, but when she looked again there wasn't a sign of a Pinkie Pie anywhere at all. "Cloud busting must be getting to me." She thought to herself, convinced there was no way for her to have seen what she saw.
The original Pinkie didn't seem to take notice of the troubled look on her clone's face as she excitedly bounced up and down! "Come on, don't hold back on me! Tell me all the details!"
"Uh... well... you see..." The Pinkie clone nervously stammered as she tried to think of how she would explain her dilemma.
"Ooh! Ooh!" Pinkie Pie excitedly remarked. "Did they pull out the walls slowly or quickly? Did they serve refreshments? What kind of wood were they using?"
The clone continued to stammer. "Actually... I... I sort of..."
The original Pinkie was still too excited to listen to a word her clone was saying. "You gotta tell me! What did I miss?! On a scale of one to ten how fun was it?!"
But the clone finally whimpered and protested. "I was on my way to Sweet Apple Acres, but..."
Pinkie froze, not liking the tone her clone had struck up. "But what, double me? What happened?"
"W-well," The clone stuttered for a brief moment. "Uh... Fluttershy, I think it was. She spotted me. And she was having a tea party with all her animal friends on this cozy little picnic blanket."
The original Pinkie Pie ceased her bouncing completely. "Oh, that does sound like fun. Just as much fun as the renovations with Applejack."
The clone nodded. "It was. But if I did that I wasn't gonna be able to make it to Sweet Apple Acres to be with Applejack," Then her lips quivered and she fell to the ground while bursting into tears. "So I didn't do anything fun at all! I just couldn't choose between them!"
Pinkie was quick to take pity on her troubled clone. "Oh, my poor, poor other me. It wasn't your fault."
The clone whimpered and sniffled. "It wasn't?"
The original pink party pony shook her head, sympathetically patting her clone on the head. "Not at all. I should've seen something like this coming. I have many friends, something like this was bound to come up eventually," And then she declared as her eyes narrowed a bit. "We're just gonna need to get some reinforcements. Two Pinkie Pies are not enough."
"Does this mean-" The clone began but she needn't have asked.
The original Pinkie nodded quite firmly. "-It's back to the mirror pool. More Pinkie Pies are going to join the party."
The two Pinkie Pies trotted back to the mirror pool entrance and soon stood before it, repeating the chant word for word to each other. "And solemnly sweared not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly mared." Two more Pinkies rose up but a few seconds later.
"Look, a double me!" The first Pinkie clone screamed in delight!
The original Pinkie corrected. "You mean a double double me. Plus another double double me. Which means it's a double double double double me. Oh, this is gonna be so much fun!"
"Did someone say fun?!" One of the new Pinkie Pie clones asked as she started to bounce all around! "Where?! Fun, fun, fun, FUN!" And she and the other newly created Pinkie Pie began to bounce around while shouting "Fun!" over and over again at the top of their lungs.
The original Pinkie Pie wasn't too concerned about how these new clones seemed way more focused on fun (to an unhealthy degree, you might say). She just trotted around while saying to herself. "Okay. So now Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are covered. Plus there's still one more Pinkie in case of an emergency. Four should be plenty," And she then declared. "Hey, Pinkies. Come on, let's go!"
However, the three Pinkie clones seemed more interested in bringing more clones to life as they all stared into the mirror pool's surface and chanted at the same time. "And solemnly sweared not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly mared." Three more clones emerged in seconds.
"Okay, Pinkies," The original spoke up, stomping a hoof in protest. "Six of us is more than enough. Let's go!"
But the clones refused to obey, those clones instead created their own clones. And those clones made their own clones, and the process repeated itself until suddenly there were so many Pinkie Pies running around that it was impossible to count them all!
The original Pinkie Pie gasped in disbelief and concern! "What in the name of pink?!" She shrieked and demanded of all the clones! "Stop!"
The clones only responded by jumping up and down while chanting "Fun!" over and over again in a deafening chorus. It was obvious that they would not be easily persuaded. And the original Pinkie just didn't have the heart to order them to go back into the mirror pool.
Instead, the original pink party pony just told all her clones. "I promise you, fun will be had," She began and against her better judgement led every single Pinkie Pie that had just been created back up to the entrance. Despite her internal concerns she said to herself. "This will work. It has to work."
Once all the Pinkie Pies had been brought out of the Everfree Forest, it was time to set them loose on Ponyville. But not before the original Pinkie saw fit to draw their attention for a quick presentation. "Alright, between the bunch of us, we should have every nook and cranny of fun in Ponyville covered at all times. An unprecedented and massive undertaking!" She told the clones. "But first, pop quiz, Pinkies! Anypony who doesn't pass goes right back to the mirror pool!" And she flipped over crudely drawn images of her friends.
The clones all answered in unison for each one, guessing the names in order from Rainbow Dash, to Applejack, to Fluttershy, to Rarity, to Twilight and finally to Spike (just for good measure). And for a "bonus question" they were shown an image of Pinkie Pie herself, and all guessed her name too.
The original Pinkie smiled. "Excellent! You're all officially certified Pinkie Pies!" And she then instructed to all the clones. "Now all of you go. Fan out to your assigned positions and observe everything fun that occurs, then report it back to me as soon as possible. Ready, set, go!"
As soon as they received the command, the Pinkie Pie clones all rushed away without hesitation! The original Pinkie was left speechless, blinking slowly as she tried to process it. A look of horror flashed in her eyes as she suddenly realized what was going to happen to the unsuspecting town of Ponyville. "Uh-oh." She said to herself.
And "Uh-oh." was very much an understatement as the clones descended rapidly on Ponyville, intent on seeking out "Fun" no matter what!
The first unsuspecting pony to become a victim of these clones and their idea of "Fun" was Rainbow Dash. She had long since fallen asleep on her beach chair by the swimming hole, and thus had no idea that any Pinkie Pies were approaching (or that more than one even existed, she was convinced she had just imagined seeing two of them). But she was suddenly and quite rudely awakened from her slumber when one of the Pinkies used its tail to tickle Rainbow's nose.
Rainbow woke up with a start as she sneezed! And that was when she saw a whole bunch of Pinkies all running about, all of them shouting "Fun!" over and over again. And none of them seemed to have the least bit of concern for the formerly snoozing pegasus mare that had been resting there.
As luck would have it, the original Pinkie Pie was on her way to the swimming hole at that very moment. She'd hoped to get there ahead of her clones and maybe divert them (or at least warn them about Rainbow Dash and her exhausted state). But she quickly discovered that she was too late, the clones had already arrived and were causing quite the scene!
Rainbow Dash had taken cover behind her beach chair while brandishing the umbrella that had previously been used to shield her from the sun. "Get back, all of you!" She warned! "No more Pinkies! I can't take it anymore!" But the Pinkie Pie clones didn't listen, they just continued to bounce around and chant "Fun!" as if that was the only word they knew (one was even banging loudly on a drum).
The original pink party pony decided then and there that she would just have to go somewhere else. "I guess I'll go see how the renovations are coming along at Applejack's!" She thought to herself. "At least Applejack should be able to handle the other mes, right?"
But Applejack (alongside Big Macintosh and a couple of volunteers from town) was having just as bad a time with the Pinkie Pie duplicates as Rainbow Dash. The Pinkies had come rushing right in during the middle of renovations as one of the walls for the new add on was being erected.
The disturbance caused by all the Pinkies running about and shouting "Fun!" repeatedly caused Applejack and the others to lose their grip on the rope holding up the wall they'd been trying to put up. It fell to the ground with a loud crash, though thankfully no one was harmed!
Applejack immediately lost patience and growled as steam escaped from her nostrils! "Hey now, that was dangerous! Somepony could've gotten hurt!" She complained! "Where'd all you darn Pinkies come from?! Are you all changelin''s or somethin'?!"
None of the Pinkies bothered to answer, they instead just bounced away without a care in the world. They didn't seem to be bothered by what they had just caused.
"Hey!" Applejack bellowed as her eyes narrowed! "Y'all come back here right now and clean up after yourselves! I know one of yous is responsible for this mess!" But the clones didn't reply to her at all.
The original Pinkie Pie had seen everything and she was immediately stricken with guilt. "Oh no, this was a terrible idea!" She thought to herself as she put her hooves to her face! "What have I done?! My poor, poor friends!"
The out of control Pinkie Pie clones quickly became a huge problem! So huge, in fact, that the citizens of Ponyville confronted the first pony they could think of who might have power to act in this situation: Mayor Mare.
Mayor Mare did her best to keep her composure as countless ponies gathered outside town hall and started shouting and ranting. "Everypony, please calm down!" She instructed to them.
Rarity stomped a hoof in protest. "Calm down? Mayor, are you out of your mind?! I just had a hurricane of Pinkie Pies come storming through my boutique! The chaos they caused would make Discord blush."
"And some of them crashed my critter picnic," Fluttershy protested. "Please, you have to do something!"
Mayor Mare just shook her head and unhappily sighed. "Unfortunately, I cannot. You've all said it yourselves, these Pinkie Pies look exactly alike. It's impossible to tell who is who and who's done what. The best I can do is order every Pinkie to be driven away, but I doubt they'll listen," Then she happened to notice a familiar unicorn mare in the crowd. "Not to worry though," She quickly called out and gestured a hoof. "I'm sure Twilight has already come up with a solution to the problem!"
Twilight blinked in disbelief. "What?!"
Rarity quickly pleaded. "Twilight, you've got to do something! Ponyville's been bombarded by out of control Pinkie Pies! At this rate they'll overturn the whole town!"
The unicorn mare with a light purple coat fought back a gulp. "I'm... I'm working on a solution..." She said sincerely. "I can safely say it's not changelings, though and I've already written to Princess Celestia for help," Then she began to quickly trot away. "Uh... in fact, she's probably trying to get in touch with me right now! For now, all of you just stay inside and keep a sharp look out for any Pinkie Pies that come around. Don't let any of them near you whatever you do."
Twilight quickly retreated to the safety of the Golden Oak Library, shutting and locking the door tightly behind her. "Spike!" She called out in desperation. "Any news from Princess Celestia?! Please say yes, please say yes!"
Spike held up a scroll in his claws. "Just arrived about a minute ago, Twilight. And it's got something attached to it too. Something about 'duplication magic' I think." The scroll was then unfolded and from it tumbled out a torn and dusty book that had seen better days.
The studious unicorn carefully used her magic to pull it close for examination, and when she did her eyes lit up like stars! "I... I don't believe it, Spike! It's a collection of Starswirl the Bearded's many advanced studies! Everything he ever felt good enough to write down is in this book. There's got to be something in here that'll tell us what we're up against." She scrolled through page after page of written records that had been clearly translated from their original texts, owing to how unusually clear and precise they were.
At last, after minutes of careful reading, Twilight stumbled across a passage that looked promising. "Aha, here we go!" She declared and read aloud! "Mirror magic: There exist within this world various objects that contain the ability to create perfect copies of anypony. One of these is, if legend is to be believe, the mirror pool. It will copy anypony down to the smallest of details, but with each copy a part of the original personality is lost. Mass copying will lead to mindless clones with no original thoughts."
The little dragon hopefully asked. "Okay, so is there a way to get rid of the clones?"
"I think so," Twilight nodded in confirmation. "According to these pages, Starswirl perfected a spell that could return the clones to the mirror pool. It looks tricky, but I think I can pull it off."
Spike cheered, satisfied that this sudden nightmare would come to a swift end! "Great! What are we waiting for, then?! Get out there and zap those clones away!"
The unicorn mare, however, nervously responded by saying. "There's a catch, Spike. The spell can't distinguish between clones and the original. If I hit the original Pinkie Pie by mistake, it won't send her back to the mirror pool but it could do something even worse. The notes don't mention what that is though, because Starswirl never got around to testing the spell," Her lips quivered in anxiety. "Which means I could potentially hurt Pinkie Pie, or even worse."
"So, all we gotta do is find out who the real Pinkie is," Spike pointed out to Twilight. "That shouldn't be too hard, right?"
"I don't know, Spike," Twilight responded as a beat of sweat trickled down her face. "And what's even worse is that I'm sure every Pinkie Pie I ask will insist she's the original. They all look identical too. It could take forever to find the real Pinkie, and that may be time Ponyville doesn't have," But putting on a brave face, she still trotted out of the library to address the crowd that had gathered. "I have a solution, everypony. But I need your help. Does anyone here know how to find the real Pinkie Pie?"
At that, one Pinkie Pie happened to speak up. "Uh, Twilight."
Twilight only shook her head and dismissively replied (unaware that another Pinkie was imitating her perfectly, even down to the movements). "Excuse me, whoever you are. But I'm not talking to you unless I know you're the real Pinkie Pie. So don't waste my time trying to claim you are, because every one of you will say you are."
"But I'm the real Pinkie Pie!" The Pinkie Pie insisted.
Another Pinkie Pie protested. "No you're not, I'm the real Pinkie Pie!"
And another Pinkie Pie spoke up (appearing atop a hat worn by Fancy Pants, who'd just so happened to be visiting Ponyville on this crazy day). "You're both wrong, I'm the real Pinkie Pie!"
Several other Pinkie Pies showed up and all of them began to repeat the same claim. Each believed themselves to be the original and that all others were just clones. Nopony knew which one to believe.
Amidst all the carnage, one of the Pinkies lamented quietly to herself. "Oh, it's no use. We all look the same. We've all got the same adorable tails, we've all got the same adorable and curly manes, we've all got the same adorable hooves! And if I can't tell us apart, who can?" But no one noticed her amidst a sea of Pinkie Pies bouncing and running around, all of them screaming "Fun!" at the top of their lungs over and over again!
And Twilight could only stare in disbelief. "It's even worse than I thought!" She thought while gulping. "There must be thousands of Pinkie Pies! Maybe even millions, or billions! How could I even begin to tell them apart?!" It all seemed so hopeless.
By now Ponyville had begun to resemble a ghost town more than anything. Doors had been locked tight and windows had been shut. No one dared venture outside while the Pinkie Pies ran amok.
Yet Twilight and Spike were trotting around anyway, trying to look for anything that even one Pinkie Pie had that the others did not. But after several long minutes they had nothing to show for it.
Suddenly, however, Spike happened to notice a Pinkie Pie all by herself. And she wasn't bouncing or shouting "Fun!" at the top of her lungs like the others. She didn't even have a smile upon her face. She just sat there at a table, her head resting against it as she unhappily sighed to herself. "Something's up with this one," Spike pointed a claw. "Maybe this is the real Pinkie we've been searching for. That's how it always works in the comics, in a sea of clones the real one is the only one who acts different."
Twilight shook her head. "Or it could just be a defective clone. If you keep making copies, sooner or later one is bound to end up being bad," And she also added. "It could also be that she's one of the earlier clones, and she's just acting this way to throw us off. The real Pinkie Pie rarely sits still for long."
"It's worth a shot, I'm gonna talk to her!" Spike insisted as he hurriedly ran over to the lone Pinkie.
The unicorn mare frowned. "She's going to say she's the real one, Spike. No way would she confess to being a clone."
Spike still decided to ask anyway. "Hey, are you the real Pinkie Pie? You're not acting like the others."
The Pinkie Pie only sadly replied. "I could be the real Pinkie or I could be a clone. What does it matter? No one can tell us apart. And Twilight's right, I could be acting like this to fool you. You've no reason to believe me."
"See? Even she agrees!" Twilight pointed out to Spike. "Come on, we've wasted enough time here."
However, Spike got an idea. "Wait! What if we asked her something that only the real Pinkie Pie could know?"
"That might work," Twilight realized. "But we wouldn't have to ask just her, we'd have to have a way to ask all the Pinkie Pies the same question. And how would we know what question to ask or what kind of test to give?"
At that, the gears in the little dragon's head started to turn. "Well, what's something that the real Pinkie Pie would never ever do unless she absolutely had to? Something she would absolutely hate having to do unless you told her she had no choice? Something that, unless she did it, she wouldn't be able to stay?" And he suggested. "We could always ask her a question to make sure we didn't get the wrong one."
The unicorn mare with a light purple coat seemed to agree to the idea. "Spike, I think you're onto something!" She excitedly declared, and then trotted away. But not before she told the Pinkie Pie before her. "If you see any of the other Pinkies, let them know that they're going to have to take a test soon. All of you will. And when its over, hopefully we can put this clone business behind us for good."
The Pinkie Pie was delighted to hear this! "Great! If I pass I'll get to be with my friends again!" She said to herself, before realizing what was at stake and gasping. "But what if I don't pass? Oh, what if I'm not the real Pinkie Pie after all?!" And she let out a groan, angrily banging her head against the table! "Stupid magic mirror pool water! This is all your fault!" However, upon reflection she came to realize something about how this entire mess had come to be. "And mine." And she hung her head in shame.
Twilight wasted no time in getting everything set up, even making arrangements with Mayor Mare to "borrow" town hall for the sake of the test. Mayor Mare was more than happy to oblige if it meant Ponyville would be free of the clones for good.
The Apple family (with Applejack leading them) skillfully rounded up every Pinkie Pie they could find, herding them right to town hall and making sure none of them had a chance to slip away. Pretty soon, town hall was full of Pinkie Pies who were all still bouncing around and shouting "Fun!" over and over again as loud as they could.
Above the deafening chorus Twilight was only barely heard as she stepped out from behind a curtain and gave a sharp whistle. That got all the Pinkies' attention. "You've been all gathered here, but not for the reason you may think," She told the Pinkie Pies. "You're all about to take a test. Don't worry, it's not going to be your typical test with pencil and paper. It's actually quite simple. And whoever passes the test gets to stay."
But before the test could be unveiled, the doors of town hall burst open as Rainbow Dash dragged in a rather downtrodden looking Pinkie Pie. "I just found this one a moment ago, Twilight," She told the unicorn mare. "She wasn't bouncing around or anything, she was just staring at the ground and making frowny faces in the dirt."
Twilight put a hoof to her chin in contemplation. "Most unusual, but it could be an act. It would be foolish to make any rash assumptions," So she instructed to the brash speedster. "Put that Pinkie in with the others real quick. We'll give her the test too."
"You sure that's a good idea, Twilight?" Rainbow nervously asked. "I've got a pretty good feeling this one's the real deal."
"I think so too, Rainbow Dash," Twilight insisted. "But the only way to be sure is if we put her to the test. She doesn't know what it is, none of them do. So she won't have an unfair advantage. If she is the real Pinkie Pie her desire to stay will motive her to complete the test."
And so, against her better judgement, Rainbow reluctantly obeyed. "Hope you know what you're doing, Twilight." She said while depositing the lone Pinkie Pie amongst the others.
"Okay," Twilight called a moment later. "We're sure we got all the Pinkie Pies around Ponyville? No one missed any?" All her friends shook their heads in response. The studious unicorn took that as a sign to proceed. "Alrighty then. Let the test commence!" Clapping her hooves, she motioned for the curtain to be raised.
All the Pinkie Pies had their blue eyes drawn to a wooden wall that had been freshly painted in dark blue paint.
"This will be your test," Twilight explained to them. "You're all to sit here and watch the paint dry," She was quick to warn. "If any of you look away for any reason, you have exactly one minute to stop what you're doing and look back at the wall. If you're still looking away after the minute is up, you'll be blasted. Do I make myself clear?" The Pinkies appeared to reluctantly nod in confirmation. "Okay," The unicorn mare nodded back. "Get ready and... go!"
Spike pulled out a box of popcorn and began to munch away on it. "Oh, this is gonna be so good!" He excitedly declared!
But as several minutes ticked by and the paint slowly began to dry, nothing seemed to happen. All the Pinkie Pies remained locked onto the wooden wall despite how boring it was. Some of them seemed to be concentrating more than others if the sweat dripping down their faces was any indication. It looked like they were struggling a great deal not to move or do anything.
At last, some of the Pinkies finally caved in to their boredom and began looking away. "Hey, is that a frog?!" One shouted upon hearing the frog that had been turned into an orange the previous day out a window. Several Pinkies turned to look and forgot all about paying attention to the wall. A minute soon passed and none of them remembered to look back.
Twilight seized the opportunity to hit the Pinkies with her magic, watching as they puffed up like balloons and were reduced to small wisps of magic that floated away (presumably back to the mirror pool).
Despite the display, other Pinkie Pies began to look away and do various things as well: Whether it was bouncing up and down, doing strange things with their hooves, making funny faces or anything other than what they had been told to do for the test. And when they had looked away for long enough, Twilight blasted them with her horn and watched them disappear. She had to stop on several occasions to blow the smoke from the tip of her horn.
Eventually, it was down to just two Pinkie Pies. One was struggling to keep from moving while the other had her eyes locked onto the wall with every ounce of her being. She barely even blinked. It seemed almost like a contest of wills to see which one would crack. But neither made a move even as the minutes ticked by agonizingly slow.
Rainbow Dash groaned upon seeing this, and having lost what little patience she had she shouted out! "Hey, somepony's making balloon animals over there!" And she pointed a hoof to a nearby window.
The Pinkie Pie that had been struggling to keep from moving finally did so, falling for the distraction. "What?! Where?! Where's the balloon animal pony?!" And she began running all about to look for the stallion or mare, to no avail. All too soon her window of opportunity had expired and she was blasted away.
Just like that it was over, only one Pinkie Pie was left. But she didn't say anything, she was still maintaining her laser like focus on the wall even though the paint was all but dry.
Fortunately, Twilight spoke up to inform her friend. "It's okay, Pinkie Pie. You can look away now, the test is over."
At that, the pink party pony breathed a much needed sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I knew I had to keep staring at that wall no matter how much I wanted to do anything else, but I thought for sure I was gonna mess up," She looked down at herself. "Does this mean I'm the real Pinkie Pie? I mean, I think I'm me. But how do I know I'm not just a really smart clone or something?"
"Well, there's only one way to prove it without a risk to yourself," Twilight declared and immediately asked her fellow mare. "What are the names of your employers?"
"That's easy! Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" Pinkie declared. "They work at Sugarcube Corner, and they let me live in the loft above the bakery."
"And what are their actual names?" Twilight inquired.
Pinkie Pie answered with a smile. "Carrot Cake and Cup Cake. And they're like a second family to me. They even let me foalsit their twins: Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake," She subsequently blinked in surprise. "Hey, it is me! It's really me!"
Everypony in the room (alongside Spike) breathed sighs of relief. No way had they messed up now.
The pink party pony then looked at her friends with guilty eyes, the shame of the day's events washing over her like a tidal wave. "I'm really sorry this all had to happen. I never meant for so many clones to be created," She was quick to add. "I just couldn't choose between my friends. It felt like no matter what I was missing out on something. I know I couldn't have all the fun all to myself all the time. But you girls were special, I wanted to make the most of our times together. I thought cloning would ensure I wouldn't miss a single moment of potential fun."
"Darling, it may have sounded like a good idea in your head, but it was a nightmare for all of us," Rarity pointed out. "We understand that you can't be everywhere even if you may want to. Sometimes you have to decide who to spend your time with."
Pinkie nodded her head in agreement. "Believe me, I know that now more than anything. I'm gonna do my best to get used to that. But I'm still gonna have a fun schedule and have ponies run fun requests by me, just so I can be sure to maximize the fun when I do have to make choices."
"As long as it means you don't try to copy yourself with the mirror pool or anything else ever again," Twilight replied with a nod. "Speaking of which, you're gonna have to show me where it is so I can cover up the entrance. We obviously can't risk this ever happening again."
And so it was that the mirror pool entrance was sealed off by a huge boulder. Everypony was instructed not to even go near it under any circumstances. The mirror pool would never again be in danger of being misused (or even used at all).
Soon afterwards, Pinkie Pie returned to Sugarcube Corner to have Spike assist her in writing a friendship lesson to Princess Celestia. And it went something like this:
Dear Princess Celestia,
It's great to have fun, but it's even greater to have great friends. And having lots and lots of friends naturally means you're gonna have to sometimes choose between them. Decide who you'll have fun with and when.
It can be hard to choose, but you'll have to because it's just not possible to be in two or more places at once (believe me, I've tried).
That's okay though, because good friends will always give you plenty of opportunities to have fun no matter what. So even if you're missing out, it's never for long when you've got friends.
Sincerely and respectfully yours,
Pinkie Pie
Spike delivered the letter within seconds of it being written, and then he followed Pinkie Pie downstairs where all her friends were waiting at the front door.
"We figured we should do something to celebrate having you back," Twilight pointed out. "So what do you wanna do, Pinkie? You can decide this time."
"You up for some wheelbarrow races?" Applejack asked.
Rainbow Dash was quick to suggest. "Or I could take everypony on a cloud ride. Twilight's been working on a spell to make it work."
Rarity then pondered. "Ooh, or how about I take a page from your book and throw you a party? A party with punch and streamers and zesty cucumber sandwiches!"
"I'm always up for another critter picnic if you'd like." Fluttershy chimed in.
"So, Pinkie," Spike commented. "What's it gonna be?"
But Pinkie Pie didn't get a chance to reply. For she was so tired and so happy that she fell asleep right then and there. Her friends giggled at the display before opting to leave her to rest. Obviously, their friend had been through a lot today.
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Really good job on this latest chapter. Again, you did a wonderful job on the exchanges, characterizations and general wrap-up in all the right places. Really enjoyed the little advance nod to "Power Ponies" (though, really Spike? Pinkie IS ALMOST that fast anyway [just ask Rainbow Dash]) as well as the greater detail on Pinkie's worries about missing out and the slight expansion on the test and the inclusion of some info only the real Pinkie Pie would know.
Very certainly looking forward to the next chapter/episode(s).