15. Is It Me, for a Moment?
Celestia took another look at the letter. She took a sip of her tea, her eyes never leaving the paper. She was quite accustomed to reading while eating or drinking, and neither the cup nor the letter wavered.
She set the cup down, and finally looked at the pony across from her.
She certainly looked like the Element of Laughter. Her appearance, however, was the only similarity. There were so many obvious differences. The way her mane bounced around less. The way she moved, nervous and blunt instead of lively and confident. The way her magic felt, less complex and less sharp than a normal pony.
Even her voice was a little different. It had the same tone and timbre, but her sentences were shorter, her diction simpler, with less music and variation than Pinkie Pie’s voice.
Celestia sighed. She had gotten very observant in her old age. She could not fault her student for not noticing things which were so obvious to her. She set the paper down.
“That is quite a story. You told it very thoroughly. You must have a good memory.” Celestia smiled.
The pony had been fidgeting the entire time she told it. Even now, she did not sit entirely still on her cushion, and kept glancing around the room. Celestia had intentionally chosen one of the simplest chambers in the castle. It was barely adorned, with soft blue walls and almost no furniture. It had not been enough, clearly. Perhaps they should have talked in Ponyville.
“Do you know why you are here?” Celestia asked.
Pinkie shook her head.
“I have already heard quite a few versions of your story from the other ponies in Ponyville, and quite a few opinions about you and Twilight and everyone else involved. But I wanted to see what you thought of everything.” Celestia turned her head to the window. All the windows in the castle were quite large. Even as one of the smaller ones, it still let a flood of sunlight into the room. “I see now that I probably should have asked you somewhere else. I did not want to make you uncomfortable.”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just…” Pinkie finally rested her hooves on her seat. “Do you ever tell a story, but it…it doesn’t feel the same way as when it actually happened?”
Celestia smiled. “Yes, I have. Memories often feel that way. They don’t change, but what surrounds them does.” She turned away from the window. “And it is even worse for ponies like you, because your memory doesn’t work quite the same as everypony else’s.”
“You’ve met ponies like me before?”
“A few times. Pinkie Pie is hardly the first pony to abuse the magic of the mirror pool.”
“And…what happened to them?” Pinkie asked.
“It depended on the pony. Some of them eventually chose to go back to the other side of the mirror, some stayed and made lives here. Which one you pick is up to you, however, not them,” Celestia said. Some of them had slightly different fates, but she chose not to mention those.
“I don’t want to go back.”
“Your friends told me as much. They asked me to help you.”
“Twilight tried that already.”
Celestia glanced at the letter. “So I have heard.” She let out a long sigh. She still had not figured out what to say to Twilight Sparkle. Punishing ponies had never been a favorite activity of hers, and she had always had a weakness when it came to her star student. “I’m sorry to say that Twilight Sparkle handled that situation very badly. She tried to force a destiny on you, even though she should have known better. Charts and grief can’t replace serendipity and…” She paused. Even out of the corner of her eye, she could tell that Pinkie didn’t understand her. Flowery oratory was the last thing she needed.
Celestia coughed a little. Any noble or diplomat would have recognized how fake it was, but Pinkie did not. “Excuse me. What I mean to say is, destiny is something you have to discover for yourself. Twilight Sparkle sadly forgot that. I still have to speak with her about it.”
“Pinkie Pie said the same thing.”
Celestia chuckled. “I am not surprised. It is a lesson that most ponies learn, in one way or another.”
“Except, I’m not sure I believe her. I mean, I’m a copy of Pinkie Pie, aren’t I? I have her mane and her cutie mark and her face. How am I supposed to discover things, or…or be myself?”
“My little pony, everyone is a product of their experiences. You may have Pinkie Pie’s appearance, but you will never be the same pony. She has her memories, and you have yours.”
“I guess.” Pinkie shuffled on her seat again. “It’s just, every time I’ve had a problem, Pinkie Pie solved it for me. And now that I think about it, all the times without her just made more problems. So…can I really be myself without her?”
“It sounds like you are worried about your individuality.” Celestia smiled, both to calm Pinkie and herself. Finally, something she had an easy answer to. “Allow me to show you that you are not her. Why don’t I give you a tour of the city? Even Pinkie Pie has never gotten a full tour from a Princess before.”
“She hasn’t?”
“No, she hasn’t.”
“Oh, well, I guess that sounds like fun!” Pinkie sprung up. “Are there bakeries?”
Celestia chuckled. Despite her crisis of identity, she was just like all the previous ones: charmingly curious. “Canterlot has quite a few bakeries. There is actually one near the castle entrance. We can start our tour there.”
Celestia stood up, and the two of them walked out of the room and into the hallway. As they progressed towards the front gates, Celestia could not help but notice how carefully Pinkie studied everything. Her gaze lingered on the tile pattern, the staff’s clothing, the window curtains, and countless other details.
Celestia sighed, but only on the inside. She had never been good with the clones. Their photographic memory and attention to detail was so unsettling. It reminded Celestia of a younger version of herself. Pinkie also had more doubts than the last one, and perhaps they were not unfounded.
Still, the tour was a good start. One new experience in a long list. After all, Pinkie had a lot to learn.
GL Pinkie clone!! Is she ever going to get a different name, assuming she wants one? Hope to see more soon!
4643053
Considering you've caused one or two, I'm quite sure you'd understand that sort of issue being the deathknell for fan fiction artists.
4643053 I detest deleting comments, and I'm fully aware that having deletions sitting there doesn't look good. But I asked everyone to be civil and they ignored me. Answering insults with insults is never a mature way to handle things, and it often makes the situation worse.
I'd rather not have a bunch of pointless vitriol in my comment section. Now that the comments are deleted, hopefully everyone can take a deep breath and voice their opinions in a less caustic way.
Huh. One of the rare Celestia's I actually like(So far). I hope she takes good care of Pinkie-2 and helps her get a good life.
Also I know what must be done with Twilight. Magic Kindergarten.
I wonder if this Pinkie is going to end up as Pudding Pie instead? or Pronkie Pie?
All the acrobatics, none of the cooking skills?
How did this fic slip by me for so long? I adore mirror pool/Clone!Pinkie stories, having wrote one myself, and this certainly doesn't disappoint. I'm going to enjoy this one . . .
Honestly, there's so much potential in Too Many Pinkie Pies, I'm surprised there's only four stories total that deal with the subject.
Temporary Rating: Worth staying up way too late for.
4643044
I'm fond of the name 'Clonie Pie'. It doesn't quite fit this fic however, so I only use it in comments and don't expect the name to appear in the fic.
Oooh, there's precedent for this? Curiouser and curiouser!
4643270 or Surprise
Wait, is Twilight gonna conspire to "kill" Pinkie?
Interesting twist, but I'm not sure it really fits the story well. Everything seems to hinge on this being a permanent issue or perhaps needing to fix Pinkie somehow, not the original Pinkie sending a clone back instead with enough things to make sure she passes Twilight's test.
Poor Twilight, I still feel sorry for her. I doubt Celestia will actually punish her I feel she really doesn't deserve it. Believe me, we've see her fall far worst in the show. (Lesson Zero) I feel like people are angry at her due to emotions and sympathizing with the clone. I but always take both sides into account and Twilight has suffered just as much. I feel that Twilight needs long heartfelt talk with Celestia. I can see a lot of emotions running in that scene and I hope we get to see it. Seriously, my mind is now firing off like a rocket with all the ideas in which that scene between Celestia and Twilight will play out. Please don't rush this. I have a feeling that done right, we could have a very interesting conversation filled with all sorts of feels.
4643346
How far can we pass the blame stick? To the one who told Nana Pinkie that it exists? To Celestia for allowing it to exist? To the Mirror Pool for existing? To the universe for coming into existence?
Personally, I'm just going with "Pinkie screwed around with something beyond her that resulted in unexpected consequences".
Also, I'm laying Twilight's actions at her hooves. She made her choices. Seriously, it's Magic Kindergarten time, with a side of order of 'Remedial Ethics'. Or make her take care of her own Mirror Pool doppleganger for the lulz.
So Celestia has been aware of the mirror pool for some time.
...
I've always wondered why all the guards look identical.
4644620
I think theres a fic somewhere around here where Rarity uses the Mirror Pool to make an army of Sweetie Bells and then sells them.
Inb4 Celestia turns her into Surprise somehow.
4644569 Twilight's actions were really retarded in a variety of ways. It was highly annoying to see this fic not address them even while blaming her in the general sense.
Three updates in three days? Madness!
So Celestia has prior experience with mirror pool clones, and they all share common traits? (Photographic memory, curiosity, and (possibly) doubts) Interesting... Twilight definitely deserves punishment though, both for her treatment of Pinkie Clone, and for the fact she was willing to risk her friends life with such a unreliable test...
4644908
Well, it's still marked Incomplete. I'm hoping the ass kicking is still coming.
4644569 Another Twilight, who has her issues reflected back upon her? Try "I Forgot I Was There"
4645503 This story spent a lot of time kicking Twilight over it. If it didn't bring up the particular reasons this was a terrible idea by now, it wont.
hi hi
I have to say, the idea of destiny often makes my blood boil. So often I hear it as if it were an excuse for all problems, or an eternal apology for what should have come to pass, and through unwillingness of others, never will. ((Paraphrased from Elizabeth Broomfield)) No matter how flowery the prose, or how beautiful the sing-song voice, I still can't stand it. I can't stand the way it depreciates self-determination, leads people to give up and just wait around for the answer to be given to them. Leads people to say that life simply isn't fair, or worse yet, that it is, and people always get what they deserve.
Long story short, I like this version of Celestia. The only way to discover your destiny is to reach it and see for yourself.
I guess if Celestia helps solve one of her problems, then she won't just be Pinkie Pie anymore, she'll be a mixture of Pinkie Pie and Celestia. A mixture that will undoubtedly get more diverse the longer she's around.
4646282 If tuire, then it's a damned shame considering how much she deserves a good ass-kicking.
You know, there's an obvious implication to the fact that Twilight's spell is incapable of differentiating the REAL Pinkie from the magical duplicates, given that a magical copy would be contructed from a spell matrix that even a moderately competent wizard would notice.
Said implication being that there NEVER WAS A REAL PINKIE PIE.
And if the spell cannot tell the difference between clones of the others... then NONE OF THE PONIES ARE REAL!!
They are all self-procreating magical constructs, made by Celestia to fill her lonliness after NMM slaughtered all the ponies left after the REAL Discord (who was a psychotic god monster of evil and stuff) had nearly wiped out their race a few years previous (then planted the seed of evil in her mind) before she could be stopped.
How's that for a dark fic, eh?
4644669
I now have the image of two dozen white pegasi pronking around Celestia shouting joyfully in their deep gravelly voices -
"Duty!"
"Duty!"
"Duty!"
"Duty!"
Interesting that Celestia has encountered clones before. That does simplify things, which is good since everything is wrapping up. Maybe it's just particularly greedy of me, but all I can think is that I wanted something more interesting, instead. Not just more grand, or complicated or involved, but more interesting. Bah, how selfish.
I have to wonder if Celestia could have made it harder for ponies to stumble across the pool. Also, "abused" implies there's a proper way to use the pool, which could be pretty interesting.
Uh, this is Celestia we're talking about. Do we really need to be told that she's used to doing what she's been doing for 1000 years?
Celestia needs to calm herself? Was she on the verge of panic for some inexplicable reason?
Hmm... I'm not sure where you're going with this, really. I guess I'll wait for the next chapter and see.
Some of them had slightly different fates, but she chose not to mention those.
Like the ones murdered or who committed suicide?
“My little pony, everyone is a product of their experiences.
“My little pony, everypony is a product of their experiences.
serendipity
charmingly curious.
Of course, they're babies, the whole world is new to them!