A Peculiar Morning
Pinkie Pie woke up today, feeling lazy.
That, in itself, was not unusual—Pinkie didn’t consider herself a morning pony, anyways. The scent of yesterday’s cupcakes still faintly wafted up from the shop below. The mirror reflected her own visage, the soft morning light giving it an ethereal look as it had always done. The clock ticked steadily onwards.
Tick, tock. Tick, tock.
But today, something was different. For Pinkie Pie wondered about not having a nose.
Just imagine it, she thought to herself as she looked into that small makeup mirror on her bedside table. Not that she often used makeup—she was generally comfortable with how she looked. Rather, she had looked into the mirror every morning, framed by that warm glow of the dawn, as a reminder.
It was easy for Pinkie to lose herself in the life of the party. Have all of her worries melt away, and, for a short time, become the party. But too many saw her as nothing else, and she was afraid that she would ever see herself in the same, monotone way. As nothing but an addict of fun.
But in the mirror, with her mane seeming to glow, she understood something. That everypony’s sparkle shifted depending on the light.
The mirror would serve a different purpose today, though, as Pinkie waved a hoof in front of where her nose was. And she imagined it would be covering… nothing. Just empty space between her hoof and her head, without a knob of flesh getting in the way of things. The lighting helped with that, and she giggled.
And yet there was no reason. Everypony had a nose, did they not? But, tapping the tip of her snout, she couldn’t help but think that she’d rather have felt nothing there.
It didn’t make sense. She had a nose. She didn’t get to just not have one.
But… let’s just play pretend. I can pretend, right?
Yes. No. Maybe.
She returned to the mirror. But there was more than just not seeing it; now, she would not feel it on her face. She would no longer smell. Her breath no longer had to flow.
Why did she feel… content? The reason eluded her. But she stared into the mirror, transfixed by the concept of a Pinkie Pie without a nose.
Wait… there was that one time. With Trixie in a magic duel, right? But she could no longer remember why she had been so angry and terrified.
Then, like the sun which inevitably came over the horizon, she understood. Until today, she had not known Pinkie Pie. That nose was not a part of her. Despite how other ponies had seen her—and perhaps might still see her—she finally understood herself.
She would show them.
If only I could go back! Hmm, I wonder if Trixie could do it again. Or maybe Twilight! She’s the super-duper magic expert, after all.
But Twilight, she remembered, was currently on an excursion to study the Mirror Pool, and had expected to be gone for several days.
I guess I’ll just have to wait, she thought, and her hopes evaporated. The scent of cupcakes taunted her.
But then Pinkie had another thought.
What if I didn’t have a left foreleg?
She knew immediately where she would remove it. Two hoofwidths below the elbow, just a hair above the top of her knee.
She wouldn’t have to drag it around with her.
It wouldn’t get in the way of her baking, whenever she needed to open the oven or measure the ingredients.
It would be… liberating.
She imagined herself wearing a prosthetic, but mere imagination was not enough for her. She grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper. The right forehoof kept the paper steady on the bedside table as she used her mouth to draw. A circle here, a line there, and slowly the image took shape.
She looked at it, and tears came to her eyes.
Yet, like last time, the euphoria was short-lived.
What if I didn’t have ears? Then, the morning would be quiet. She wouldn’t hear the rattle of carts being pulled along the street, or the sound of some confused would-be customer ringing the shop bell. Songbirds would just be birds. And the ticking of the clock would… stop.
Such a wonderful silence, yet Pinkie wanted more. Or maybe it was less.
What if I couldn’t feel anything at all? Not asleep, though, ‘cause then I’d still wake up. More like…
She suddenly felt light-headed, as if she was an immaterial wisp floating through the air.
Something was wrong. Something was wrong. Pinkie had never felt like this before. It was wrong that it could feel so right.
Maybe Twilight could help. She’s the expert on this sort of thing, after all.
But Twilight, she remembered, was studying the Mirror Pool.
Wait… I knew that, didn’t I?
She shook her head. Everything was slipping away from her. She looked into the mirror again, trying to regain that sense of clarity from earlier in the morning. It didn’t work.
Twilight was gone, and somehow Pinkie felt that it was important.
Something clicked for her. What if I’m a clone?
But that didn’t make sense at all. Twilight’s watching-paint-dry test should have made sure that I was the real Pinkie Pie… right? Then again, I overheard that one Pinkie Pie who hadn’t been sure if she was a clone or not, either…
Now that she thought about it, that test wasn’t the most convincing method.
Maybe she can invent a spell for it, with all the research she’s been doing! It’d be real nice to know for sure.
But that was so long ago, and even if she was a clone… it didn’t explain why everything only started this morning.
Twilight’s there. If she accidentally did something to the Pool itself, who knows?
Pinkie looked at herself in the mirror, and she could imagine that she wasn’t even there.
Or maybe I’m just going crazy.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Draconequues · 4k words · 11 1 · 364 views
- Dashie04 · 1.2k words · 10 2 · 227 views
- RB_ · 1000 words · 52 0 · 741 views
- Silk Rose · 1.7k words · 45 3 · 1.9k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.148 seconds
Total duration
1,025 users online
135,004 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Well, shit...
Existence just feeling wrong is a kind of scary concept. I don't get feelings quite like this, but I think I dissociate mildly from time to time. Like I'll suddenly "wake up" from a train of thought and remember that I have a physical body at a physical location in space, or that I'll realize that my past actions aren't just memories but tangible events that took place and that other conscious beings could corroborate as having happened.
Okay I've recorded it, just gotta edit it, which will be soon.
11242043
Thanks, you did a great job on it! I originally had some doubts about the ending, but I think your reading made it work way better than I had in just text.
I'm really not sure what to think about this story.
But you get points for doing something different. For exploring a concept that would be highly alien to most.
11242043
I listened to your reading of it. You did a good job. I have eye pain nearly every day, so I always appreciate whenever I can find that someone has read a story aloud, which allows me to save my eyes a little. I especially appreciate it when they do a good job with it, and even go the extra mile to try to recreate things like sound effects relevant to the story. Thank you for recording it, it is appreciated.
A curious tale. I'm really not sure what to make of it, and I imagine Pinkie doesn't either. If you were going for disquiet, you nailed it. Best of luck in the judging.
11263603
11265906
I sure am getting a lot of hesitancy on this story :P
There was a point where I was trying to run with a more explicit ending where the Pinkie clone we are following fades away as Twilight accidentally destroys the mirror pool but it was confusing as I couldn't manage the evidence to support it in the limited word count, and only one prereader actually figured out what was going on.
I do hope that the horror tag was sufficiently justified.
11230815
You did pick it up.
instantly relatable
indeed, i would wonder about that too
aww, so true (though i imagine Equestria is a place where makeup is just for self-expression and not a ward against discomfort!)
aww, love this line!
oof, so true! commentary, inadvertent or not, on how so many people treat Pinkie Pie as a one-note character like this
aw dang, nose dysphoria, or BIID? interesting to think about
oh, dang, that's right! fascinating to think about that as having affected Pinkie in the long term
oof, this is certainly escalating in an uncomfortable way!
augh, a terrifying and beautiful line
oof, i am glad that she sees it at least...
and augh, the earlier mention of the Mirror Pool, the feeling as if one was not meant to be, this is exactly where i thought it was leading to! great stuff
commentary!
and augh, i love the ambiguity! i can imagine how awful it is to be Pinkie Pie right now, stuck between this worrisome sudden desire to be incorporeal and having no way to really even trust her own mind.
disquieting, introspective, and a fresh take on the consequences of the Pinkie we see in canon being a surviving clone instead of the original. the escalation was perfectly done, with each step having its own efficient internal logic and beauty but leading deeper and deeper into the disquiet. i was right there along with Pinkie each step that she took in her little journey here, feeling that mix of beauty and rightness along with the absurd and wrong, and if that's not a sign of great writing, i don't know what is.
i really loved this, thank you so much for it!
Howdy, hi~!
This was absolutely fascinating. I actually happen to have known of the disorder that inspired this before reading. It really hits on some interesting emotions and captures a very poignant sense of dread that was so enjoyable to read. Lovely fic, thank you~!
11298023
I spent way too much time on writing this line. At least it landed, yay?
commentary
Also, it was meant to reflect the chants of "fun" in the original "Too Many Pinkie Pies" episode. Just trying to hint at the context of the story.
The revelation is just out of left field, and while I hope that the evidence I built up previously was sufficient, I'm still unsatisfied with how it came out. Word count + authorial skill issue.
Thanks for the comments!
11301506
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the story.
Hello! Have a review. A really interesting setup and quite an ambitious subject for a 1,000-word fic. That said, I wasn't really sure I understood Pinkie's mindset here, even after reading the A/N, though I suspect that's my fault rather than yours. Well done on the honourable mention!
11308585
Thank you for the review! I don't think it's your fault that you didn't understand the story; to be honest, I personally have some problems with the story direction as well. So I feel like it's a legitimate flaw rather than merely just a niche-audience thing.