What happened when the clones of Pinkie Pie were sent back into the Mirror Pool? What's waiting for them under the water? One Pinkie clone realizes what the strange world is like and tries to find a way out with some...strange friends.
What happened when the clones of Pinkie Pie were sent back into the Mirror Pool? What's waiting beneath the water?
One Pinkie clone realizes what the strange world is like and tries to escape with the help of some... strange friends.
She journeys through the strange world alongside Lucario and Kirby. Facing blazing deserts, mountainous heights, and a horror beyond the clone's imagination.
This is one of my first stories, so please keep that in mind before you say that it's not good or give it a thumbs down. I also have school and life to worry about so don't think that this is all I have to do.
Twilight Sparkle and her friends had found out which Pinkie Pie out of all of the Pinkie Pies was the real one. It was through a series of challenges... wait, typo sorry. It was a serious challenge. One that could put even the strongest pony into insanity! The challenge was... Watching paint dry? That's not very intense or interesting. Who in the world came up with that? I mean seriously! I'm trying to narrate this amazing introduction to this story and- Alright, fine! I'll continue on with the story! Now where was I...? Oh, right! After a long challenging... challenge... Pinkie Pie prevailed and her clones were sent back into the Mirror Pool. But have you ever wondered what happened to those clones?
I know I did. It made me wonder if they could do an epilogue that would show what happened to them and- what? Oh, sorry, got sidetracked. But, anyway. The clones were sent to a strange place that held many different species from many different worlds, all of which were also clones. And one clone is able to realize what a terrible place it is. It is Limbo for everything cloned and all clones must stay there for eternity. They never die. They never age. They never... Did you forget to write a bigger list? I think you did! Two things for the punishment of the clones is not a very good number to put! I swear, this guy is an idiot... But, uh, they never... give life? Yeah, that sounds good. They never give life.
But, one clone, the first clone of Pinkie, had noticed this terrible place for what it is. She had to travel to escape the world of clones with some new friends and escape from this world of Limbo for clones... Dude, you seriously gotta think of a name for this world! It won't be interesting until you do! *sigh* Well, I got the basic needed info out of the way. Enjoy reading the story, Beyond the Mirror Pool.
"Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!" said the many clones of Pinkie Pie as they hopped around. Many of the clones were hopping, some were playing games, and some were making their faces look very strange. One clone however was alone and away from the others. She sighed sadly. The clones had been sent back to the Mirror Pool 3 weeks ago and with no food at all, they had strangely survived. None of the clones were missing at all. And none of them looked tired. "Because we're all Pinkie Pie" the clone thought to herself. She had decided to watch the other clones bounce around and see what they do if they crash into something.
The sad clone was watching one of the clones bounce when she had noticed something behind the other clone. It was a door. The thought of freedom had made the sad clone smile. She galloped to the door as fast as she could go. She had reached the door and inspected it. There were no door hinges so she thought that they were on the other side. There was no door handle either. So she thought that pushing the door would open it. She gently pushed at the door, but it didn't even budge. She pushed with no force but it was the same result. The clone took a step back then slammed into the door. But it hardly even moved. She stared at the door and thought of an idea for how to open it.
Then it hit her. She turned to the large group of Pinkie Pie clones and yelled, "Hey, everypony! There's fun on the other side of this door!" She pointed her right hoof towards the door. All of the other clones stopped what they were doing and looked at the door, staring. They stood that way until one Pinkie in the middle of the crowd jumped and yelled "Fun!" Then all the other Pinkies had bounced towards the door. The clone that had tried to open the door stepped aside clearing the way for the crowd. And the crowd had bounced until they hit the wall. The first few hit the wall hard and for some strange reason squeaked upon impact. The ones behind them had continued bouncing and a huge pile of bouncing Pinkie was accumulating at the door.
The lone clone sighed in disbelief. She was sure it would work! Then, she heard a crack. And before she could even look up, then was a louder one and the whole wall around the door had fallen. The clone grabbed her party cannon and fired it rapidly in the direction away from the door. The large crowd of Pinkies turned and looked at the noise and saw the room they were in had toys and confetti and streamers all over it. Oh, and balloons! Don't forget the balloons. The crowd had all ran back to the room and played with all of the newly found toys and decorations as the lone clone had walked out of the room through the open door.
The lonely Pinkie Pie clone walked out of the door and looked around and where she was. There was a long white hallway with doors all along it on both sides. There where signs labeling what was inside. The clone looked up at the label of her room. The door was labeled : "Pinkie Pies". Was it because she was the only pony that was cloned or because there were too many of them to put in another room? The Pinkie clone had turned to close the door. But realized that the door was shattered and on the ground. Oh, right...Whoops! the clone thought to herself. She had started walking down the hallway to inspect what else was in this strange place. As she walked she looked up at the signs. Many of them had said "Clone soldiers" or "Stormtroopers". The clone had wondered what they were. Who would want to fight a storm? Sure their natural but they're needed! the clone thought. She then opened the door to the one label "Stormtroopers" and peered inside.
It was a very large room that looked very futuristic. There were 2 strange creatures standing on two legs and had hands. They were wearing weird white suits and carried black guns. The two creatures, Stormtroopers the clone had guessed from the sign, seemed to be talking. One of the Stormtroopers had put down his gun and grabbed a strange box. It had an antennae on it and was a dark grey. It had two circles with a strange material over it and buttons in the center. The stormtroopers moved the strange box forward and pressed a button. He then went into a pose that looked like he was grabbing the under side of a table. The music had started playing a catchy tune and the lyrics only said Bubadada Dada Dada! Bubadada Dada Dada! over and over again. The Stormtrooper had started moving strangely as well.With his arms still like they were before, he pulled them back and pushed his waist forward. Then he reversed the action and repeated it. The other clone had started laughing very loudly. The Pinkie clone couldn't help but laugh as well, she didn't even know what was funny about it! The two Stormtroopers grabbed their guns and ran after the clone. She hurridly closed the door and heard a thud come from the other side. She sighed in relief and continued walking.
She was walking past a door when she heard strange noises coming from the other side. Many noises that sounded garbled. She looked at the door and saw what was written. "Pokemon Clones" and "Legendary Pokemon Clones". She opened the one the Legendary Pokemon Clones door and looked inside. There were giant creatures of all different shapes and sizes. The Pinkie clone looked from creature to creature and was amazed by how they looked. One small and blue and had two antennae on it and yellow spots around a red crest in its stomach. There were 3 robots surrounding one larger one. The smaller ones appeared to be made of rocks, ice, and metal. And the large on seemed to be completely still and hadn't moved in a long time, explaining the mold on its shoulder. Another was large. It was white and golden with a ring around its waist that was golden. It's eyes were red. The clone had only noticed it when it had stared right at her. The large creature had floated over to the Pinkie clone and the clone panicked. She tried to close the door but was stopped by a invisible force. She was lifted off of her legs and was surrounded by a light blue aura. She looked behind her and saw a little pink cat-like creature behind her. It's eyes were glowing light blue showing it was what was lifting the Pinkie clone.
The little cat creature had carried her right up to the larger creature and looked at it. The large creature looked at the ground and a large earth pillar was shot up from the ground. The pink cat thing place the Pinkie clone down on the pillar and flew up to the larger creature. The larger creature had spoken in a deep voice towards the cat creature, "Thanks you, Mew" Then the creature known as Mew flew away.
The large creature turned to the clone and said, "Greetings traveler. I am Arceus. I guide these others that our trainers call "legendary" and make sure that peace is maintained. Might I ask what your name is?"
The clone had thought for a second. She wanted to get out of here, but if she did she couldn't call herself Pinkie Pie or else everypony at home would absolutely know she's a clone, even if she changed her look. She realized that the real Pinkie never used her real name. The clone looked up at Arceus and loudly answered, "My name is Pinkamena Diane Pie! And I'm from Equestria!"
Arcues looked at her with curiousity. "Well that would explain why you look like none of the Pokemon I had created. Why is it that you are here?"
"I was just looking around hoping I could find an exit." Pinkamena replied.
"Well you won't find any answers from me. I have not created this world. But, I know of one Pokemon who has escaped from here but returned because he learned that his trainer had passed away. His name is Lucario. He can help you escape from this place."
"Oki doki loki! How can I pay you back? Ooooooo! I know! I know!"
Pinkamena pulls out a candy bar she had planned on using for ammo for the Party Cannon, but decided against it. She placed it down for Arceus to take.
"There is no need to repay me. I assist all life that requires my help. Though some have taken me for granted and cloned me somehow... Now there are endless amounts of myself going around the world from trainer to trainer. But, you need not worry about repaying me. Just go speak to Lucario. He shall tell you what you need to do."
Arceus had lowered the earth pillar allowing Pinkamena to walk towards the door. "I wish you good luck, Pinkamena" Arceus says to her.
She starts walking over towards the door saying "Byee!"
As she leaves the room Arceus picks up the candy bar and looks at it. He thens tosses it over his shoulder. That being is going to have a hard time escaping here. Lucario had Infernape with him, but they got separated and Infernape is nowhere to be seen. If it took great fighters to escape, yet only one was able to tell the tale. I pray for Pinkamena and Lucario's safety...
Pinkamena stepped out of the Legendary Pokemon Clone room then walked next door to the Pokemon Clone room. Same as before, she heard many garbled noises coming from the room. She looked in and saw many creatures. But, they weren't as awe-inspiring as the legendaries. They also ranged in sizes smaller than Pinkie's nose to larger than that of Sugar Cube Corner at Ponyville. The room that all these creatures were in looked like the real world, with mountains that scratch the sky and oceans that seemed like they could flood all of Equestria. There were many of these creatures known as Pokemon. Too many to count. She stepped inside and started looking for Lucario, the one that Arceus had mentioned. She walked up to a large hill and looked around. She then realized that she didn't know what Lucario looked like. She sighed in anger. Pinkamena then grabbed her large megaphone and yelled into it.
"Lucario! Are you in here?! I was sent by a really large and strange Pokemon called Arceus to look for you! Would you mind coming over here, pretty please with whipped cream, sprinkles, 3 extra scoops of ice cream, and a cherry on top? Thankies!"
Many of the Pokemon had turned and looked at her. Many spoke between each other whispering about Pinkamena no doubt. Pinkamena was surveying the area, seeing if any of these Pokemon stood out. She noticed part of the crowd was parting to let one Pokemon through. He stood on his hind legs. He had blue and black fur all over him. He had spikes through his front paws and one right in the middle of his yellow chest. His red eyes shined with power. He walked up the hill towards Pinkamena and he spoke to her in a voice that made her scared. "Why did Arceus send you to look for me? He promised me rest."
Pinkamena smiled at him and said happily, "He sent me to tell you that he said that you need to help me leave this crazy world and that you're the only one that has ever left. Except that you came back because your trainer passed away. What did he pass? Was it a ball? Was he playing Wonderball?"
Lucario groaned angrily. He then looked towards the crowd of Pokemon and waved his hand. The others then continued with what they were doing.
Lucario looked towards Pinkamena. "Listen I can help you get out of here, but I have a few rules if I'm going to help you."
"1. I lead, not you."
"2. You don't do anything unless I say so. "
"And 3. You do not ever bring up my trainer. Do you understand?"
Pinkamena happily nodded her head. Though she still wondered...What does passed away mean?
Lucario had started walking towards the door and gestured for Pinkamena to follow. She does, but bounces instead of walking. When they enter the hallway Lucario turns right and walks all the way down the hallway. They both end up reaching a large blank wall with nothing on it. Lucario then grabs a door handle that wan't there before. He pulls and they walk out.
When Pinkamena had gotten outside she had taken a large breath of fresh air. She hadn't been outside since all of the clones were sent through the Mirror Pool to this strange land. Lucario came up behind her and spoke to her. "Here you go, you're not in the clone world anymore."
What?" Pinkamena asked, "This isn't Equestria! I want to go back to my home!"
"You said you wanted to get out of the world of clones. Not back to your home. If you want something you need to be specific."
Pinkamena looked down. Lucario was right, she wasn't specific. But she didn't expect there to be more to this world. She thought once she was out of that hallway she would be back home. But, there was more.
Lucario looked at her and asked her, "It's going to be along and dangerous journey. Are you ready to go Miss...?"
Pinkamena looked up at Lucario. "My name Is Pinkamena Diane Pie. And Yes, I am ready to go."
Lucario had remembered a town that he had left his supplies from the last time he journeyed to leave this world. And it was very close by as well. He told Pinkamena where the town was and they began their travel. Along the way, Lucario thought about the last time he had gone. Him and his best friend Infernape were hoping to reunite with their trainer, Jay, after he had left them for so long. The laughs the two shared together and the hard times they went through, they were truly best friends. And when they were separated on their last journey together, Lucario was sure he was gone. It was against a large creature that Lucario could not see because it was dark in the large cave the beast hid in and he was exhausted from before so he could not sense it's aura. Infernape grabbed Lucario and threw him out the exit nearby and stayed to make sure that the creature did not chase after his friend. Infernape used Rock Slide and closed off the exit, making sure that Lucario could not enter it and that the beast could not leave. That was the last time Lucario had seen Infernape.
When they arrived in the town Lucario noticed it was about the same as when he last came through it. The streets were crowded with people. Children were playing their games laughing. Merchants saying how great their product was. And the tower in the center. The tower was legendary. It was said that a hero came along and protected the town from all evil that attempted to enter it. The hero had protected the town for many years, but he grew old and frail. But, he thought of an idea to protect the people from beyond the grave. He would build a tower at the center of the town and have his spirit guard the tower.The town had been protected ever since, no crimes had committed, no invaders were successful, and no life was was taken by another being.
Lucario had checked behind him and saw Pinkamena at a merchant's stand. She handed the merchant 3 pieces of gold and walked away holding a mirror in her mouth. Lucario was irritated that Pinkamena had gone against the second rule: She mustn't do anything unless Lucario tells her to.
"Why did you just purchase that mirror?" Lucario questioned
Pinkamena put the mirror down on the ground and answered, "That nice man said it can show you what you desire! I thought I could bring it along and we can look into it when we need motivation!"
Lucario grabbed the mirror from off the ground quickly. "You know you shouldn't have bot this right? It's probably just going to be a regular mirror with a fancy look. Watch I'll even show you."
He then looked into the mirror and saw a bright white light flash. Suddenly, he was with his trainer Jay and all of his trainer's other Pokemon, Infernape as well. All of them were around a campfire relaxing. It was exactly like the night that they had defeated the Elite Four of Sinnoh. All of Lucario's old teammates were there. Staraptor was pirched on a tree branch nearby. Rhyperior was hammering on some rocks. Garchomp was shaking food down from a tree. And Gyarados was in the lake swimming. Lucario and Infernape were sitting with Jay as Jay laughed and talked to his Pokemon.
"You all did amazing today!" he said "Infernape and Staraptor, you two destroyed the Bug-types that Aaron used." Staraptor cawed in apprecitaion. "Gyarados, you did great against Bertha's Ground-types and Flint's Fire-types. You did awesome against Flint, too, Garchomp!" Gyarados and Garchomped roared showing off their power. "And where would we be if we didn't have our good friend Rhyperior? He had taken a beating to finish up some of the Pokemon that made you guys faint." Rhyperior grabbed a chunk of rock and shot it far from the campsite. He did not even hear the compliment. "And Lucario was great going up against Lucian's Psychic-types! Good thing you know Dark Pulse. And you all did amazing against Cynthia. Garchomp took down her Garchomp with ease. Staraptor took out her Milotic. Rhyperior shot down her Togekiss. Infernape scorched her Lucario to a crisp and turned her Roserade into ashes. And Lucario challenged her Milotic and Spiritomb to a fight and won. And now, I am the Pokemon Champion, and you are all my winning team. And we are all going to go back home, the long way. We are all walking there, but it's to remember all of our struggles we passed to get to where we are today. So get your rest you guys, we're gonna need it for the journey tomorrow!" Jay and his Pokemon had continued on with the night, gathering food and then going to bed. That night Lucario dreamt that him and his friends had won against the Elite Four yet again.
Lucario had come to his senses and remembered where he was. He was in the town near where clones are banished and he was with Pinkamena. She was staring at him with a surprised look on her face. "It worked!" she yelled "It really worked! It was worth 3 bits! That was a great deal. Maybe I should go get more?" She had began trotting back to the merchant when Lucario grabbed her tail.
"No, this is all we need right now. We need to head to where I left my supplies from my last travel across this world."
Pinkamena groaned and followed Lucario as he began to walk off.
They had reached a large building that wasn't there last time Lucario was here. Lucario opened the door and walked in. Pinkamena followed behind. Pinkamena looked around and saw many humans walking around. Lyra was right about there existence! Pinkamena thought to herself. Lucario had walked up to the desk and was talking to the human there while Pinkamena was looking around fascinated by what the humans had built.
The room she was in was a large lobby. The floor was completely red rug and was very comfortable Pinkamena thought. The ceiling was at least twenty feet above her. And she could see people on the second floor walking from room to room up there. The desk Lucario was standing near was a dark brown color and had pens, papers, and little novelty toys all over it. It seemed to have room for more than one person at a time. And behind the desk was a very large fish tank with many colorful fish swimming inside of it. One was red with yellows fins and looked like it had a golden mustache like Gustav.
Pinkamena walked over to the desk and listened to what Lucario was talking about.
"Can I just talk to Hector? He used to own this place a year ago when it was just a small business, he has to still be here." Lucario says to the man at the desk
"I'm sorry, but would you mind be more specific? We have many employees named Hector, 3 of which have been around since the time you have stated." The attendant replied
"Hector Rivero."
"Oh, Mr. Rivero? Sure, I'll tell him he has a visitor. He's on the second floor in room 237."
"Thank you" Lucario said as he walked away.
Pinkamena began to start walking, then she heard the attendant say into the phone, "Mr. Rivero you have a visitor, it's a blue dog and a pink pony. Okay, goodbye. He is such a freak..."
Pinkamena ran to catch up to Lucario and when she did, they were outside room 237. Lucario opened the door and walked in and Pinkamena hear someone yell, "Hello there, Lucario!" from inside.
Inside of the room was small. There was a desk, a rugged floor, a filing cabinet, and a few extra chairs. And that was it. Pinkamena walked in and sat down on the floor. She noticed the man at this desk was old. He had short, gray hair and wore a blue suit with a red tie. His face was somewhat wrinkled, which reminded Pinkamena of Mulia when she was on the train on the way to the baking competition for the Cakes. Lucario walked up to the desk and held out his hand. The man shook it.
"It's been a while, hasn't it Hector?" Lucario says
"Why yes it has my friend. Are you here to grab your bags to go off on another journey?" Hector asks
"Yeah, I got to take this..." Lucario looks back at Pinkamena "Pony, right?"
"Yep! Earth Pony to be exact!" she answers
"I got to take this pony back to her home world, it's because of a promise I owe Arceus."
"Alright then, I kept your bags with me when they renovated the building. Here they are." He hands a large beat-up backpack of a dark blue color. "Are you sure you want to grow through with this considering what happened last time you traveled to the exit of the world?"
Lucario seemed to be depressed after Hector said that. "Yeah" he says after a minute, "I need to repay Arceus for helping me return safely after I found out my trainer passed away."
"Well, then I wish you both a safe travel." Hector says
Lucario and Pinkamena walked out of the building. Then Lucario had remembered something. "Pinkamena" he said
"Yes, Lukey?" Pinkamena replied
"Do not call me Lukey ever again... What I was trying to say was that where we were before, everyone is immortal. Nobody can die or grow old. But once you're out here, you're back to being mortal. So you need to eat, sleep, and most importantly, stay alive. We can stay at an inn for tonight but once morning comes along we are leaving."
Pinkamena didn't even know what time it was. When she looked at the sun, she did see it was setting so night would fall soon. She agreed to his plan and went to the inn and stayed the night. And it was a peaceful night, with them eating and playing with the other guests, but mostly Pinkamena. Lucario had stayed secluded in the room all night with the mirror. Pinkamena had eventually worn herself out and went back to her room and found Lucario still awake and on his bed looking into the mirror.
"Boy, Lucario, you sure do like looking into that mirror. What is it that you see anyway?" Pinkamena asked.
Lucario looked away very shocked, he wasn't expecting Pinkamena to be there, and then he place the mirror on the table nearby. "I see my life before I got sent here. I'm not even a clone and I ended up in the Hallway of Clones somehow. I just want my life to go back the way it was before." He seemed to be getting tears in his eyes.
Pinkamena quickly said "Well, I want to get home too, but it would be hard for me to start over. I'm an exact lookalike to Pinkie Pie back in Equestria. Seems like we both are stuck with a destination we want to reach, except there's something stopping us."
Lucario looked at her. He wiped the tears from his eyes and thanked her. "Listen, we should get to bed. It would be smart to rest up before the journey."
Pinkamena yawned and then nodded. "Yeah, I'm reeeeaaaally tired." She jumped into her bed and wrapped herself in the blankets. "Goodnight, Lucario"
Pinkamena woke up from her night's rest and yawned. She glanced over at Lucario's bed to see that the blue Pokemon was not there. Pinkamena wondered where he could be. She knocked on the bathroom door, asking if he was in there, but she got no answer. After taking care of her bodily functions, she headed to the lobby to see if Lucario was out there. She walked to the lobby and saw a vending machine. She inspected it closely, finding many types of food behind a thin plastic wall. She saw that there were numbers below each item. And to the right was a box attached to the machine and buttons, and near that was a sign that read "Insert payment method and select item".
Pinkamena was then pushed aside. When she looked at who had shoved her it was a short human boy wearing red clothes and a red hat that looked like an elf's hat. The boy opened the box and placed a blue jewel that looked almost like Rarity's cutie mark. He then closed the box and pressed a few buttons. Then the machine whirred to life and grabbed a glass bottle with a red liquid inside. It then brought the bottle to the box where the boy had placed the jewel and the box opened up. The boy grabbed the bottle, pulled off the cork, and chugged it down in two gulps then wiped his mouth. The boy in red clothes then walked away silently.
Pinkamena looked at the strange boy and could help but feel that he was linked to the Hallway of Clones. She pulled out two bits and placed it in the box. She looked at the machine and saw hay bacon strips, Pinkamena's favorite breakfast aside from sugar! She punched in the numbers and watched the machine grab her hay bacon strips. When the box opened there was something on top of the hay bacon strips. A note.
Pinkamena opened the note and read it aloud to herself. "You, little pink pony, have no idea what awaits you. The path you are on will lead you to an end that cannot be undone nor avoided." The words were writing themselves as Pinkamena read the note. "You shall see pain beyond your belief. And then you must make a choice to decide how your life shall continue. I say this to you now, return to where you came from or face the dangers that await. But, if you choose to continue your journey, seek out the master of copy. He shall see that journey through to his demise. Be warned that your reason for this journey is from your own selfishness. You must think of others on this journey. Farewell, Pinkamena..."
Pinkamena stood there thinking about what the note said. "Your reason for this journey is from your own selfishness"... Pinkamena did want to go home for her own reasons, but it was to live a life making ponies happy, like the real Pinkie Pie. "You must make a choice to decide how your life shall continue". Pinkamena was scared of thinking of what that line meant or even the thought of what the choice will be. "Seek out the master of copy" Who could that be? Pinkamena didn't know anybody who could even come close to being a master at copying. She could only hope that he was in this Inn. She shook her head and ran off looking for Lucario, leaving behind her hay bacon strips.
Pinkamena had reached the lobby and saw that Lucario was talking with someone. That someone was shaped like a green circle with arms. It had a face, with the regular eyes and mouth like everyone else. And his legs/feet were like orange shoes with no design at all. Lucario looked over and gestured for Pinkamena to join him. Pinkamena trotted over.
The green circle said, "Is this her?"
"Yeah" Lucario answered, "This is Pinkamena. I'm helping her escape from this world, Arceus said I had to"
"Oh so you still owe Arceus that favor when he rescued you?" the green one questioned
Lucario laughed happily, "Yes, Kirby, I never thought I would be able to pay him back. This is like a miracle, finally paying off that life debt to him"
Kirby laughed as well, he seemed to be a cheerful little character. "She doesn't seem like much of a fighter... You need someone else to come along so you two don't get injured?"
"Nah, I can handle whatever will be thrown at us." said Lucario "But, thanks for offering"
"No problem, but if you need help, you know who to call. You still got the phone?"
"It's gone, I dropped it when Arceus was carrying me back from the Sanctuary. I'm glad I was able to get back there after the fight before that. I thought I was going to die going up against that thing"
"So, how did you end up living?"
"Infernape saved me, but he got trapped inside..." Lucario looked away. That was clearly a sore topic.
"Oh, sorry. But anyway..." Kirby turned towards Pinkamena "Nice to meet you Pinkamena, my name is Kirby. Or at least, I was a part of Kirby when Meta Knight cut him into four pieces. Then the real one of him ended up becoming one piece again and me and the other two pieces live here." He stuck out his arm which was a big stub.
Pinkamena out her hoof and shook Kirby's "hand". "Nice to meet you too. You know Lucario? From where?"
"Oh, don't get me started." he began "I helped this guy on his last journey out of this place and saved him from falling to his death a few times since I'm basically a freaking balloon with arms and legs!" He proved this point by taking in a deep breath and becoming swelled. He began to float and he flapped his arms and he began to rise in the air. After about thirty seconds, he let out a puff of air and fell down on his chair. He landed on one foot and spun. Then plopped down into his chair. "And I've also got a special power that lets me take my opponent's power."
"Yeah" Lucario pitched in "He can swallow his enemies after sucking them up. He can fit anything in his mouth because he so fat!" Lucario began cracking up.
Kirby had started laughing as well. "Yea, but I'm not fat. I even know a few people who call me the "Master of Copying" because I copy my opponent's power and use it as my own. I actually like that nickname"
Master of Copying! This was who the note said to find! "Uhhh..." Pinkamena said, "Would you mind joining us on our journey?"
Lucario looked at her with anger. Pinkamena knew why. He had just said that they didn't need him on the journey and she went ahead and asked him to join.
Kirby smiled and said "Sure! I told you you would need my help! She even thinks so"
Lucario groaned. "Fine, you can join." He rose out of his chair. "We should probably get started on the journey now. It's going to be quite a long one"
Kirby quickly took advantage of this opportunity and said, "That's what she said!"
Lucario began to laugh. "I hate you so much, you fat booger. Come on" Lucario began walking towards the door and Kirby got out of his chair and followed. Pinkamena was curious about their friendship. They had insulted each other yet they both laughed. If somepony insulted Pinkamena, she would think they were a Meany Meanypants and tell them so. But maybe it's something that males do. Pinkamena wouldn't know because she wasn't a stallion. She put the thought away and began walking towards the door.
When she reached outside, she saw Kirby and Lucario looking at some mountains in the distance. "Whatchya lookin' at?" she asked.
"We're trying to find where the Nightmare Abyss is..." Lucario said "It was behind Mt.Shatter which is one of those mountains, if I'm right"
"You don't remember that you need to pass through the Scorch Plains? That's where we'll see the path to Mt.Shatter" Kirby said.
"Oh yeah, now I remember. During our first trip though there you used Ice powers to make it snow so the heat wouldn't affect us. And me and Infernape blasted away anything that got close"
Pinkamena was thinking about the names of the locations the two others had just said. Nightmare Abyss, Mt.Shatter, and Scorched Plains, they all sounded dangerous. But, the path home was through those locations, and Pinkamena wasn't going to stop until she made it home.
Lucario and Kirby began discussing the travel path, so Pinkamena grabbed the mirror out of Lucario's bag which was on the ground next to Lucario and looked into it. And as she looked at her reflection, a bright light began to shine out of the mirror.
Pinkamena saw herself in Ponyville, the day she was cloned. She had been so happy that she began to bounce cheering that she was back in Ponyville. Except the only thing that came out of her mouth was "Fun!"
She bounced around into the Library and jumped from shelf to shelf. The books came tumbling from the shelves, each making a loud smash as they hit the floor, as if they were made of glass. She continued to hop around until she felt pain in her hooves. She stopped and saw that there were shards of glass covering her hooves and halfway up her leg. She wanted to scream in pain, but again, the only sound she made was "Fun!"
She plopped down and reached to pull out the shards of glass, but she could not reach them. The more she tried the farther they seemed to get from her. She began to panic as blood was now coming out of where the shards were.
She heard a voice in her head, one who's tone was sinister and forboding. "You see what I meant? Your own desire lead to the destruction of what was around you. And it eventually came to hurt you. You cannot by blinded by your wishes to go home. Other's have had similar dreams, but theirs were taken from them. Like your friend, Lucario. He want to return home so badly. His heart yearning to be back with his trainer and his friends. Yet that was taken from him. And what is your desire? To go back to Equestria? To become your own pony? To live like a regular pony instead of a clone? You cannot have your wish granted without a cost. Lucario lost his best friend trying to get home. He made it home, but his trainer was nowhere to be found. What if you make it home and find that Equestria is gone? Your so-called friends gone? That wouldn't matter. You don't have friends. You are a clone, nothing more. You are a copy. You are a repeat."
"You are nothing..." the voice whispered
Pinkamena let out a scream as she felt the glass shards tearing apart her flesh.
Lucario and Kirby grabbed Pinkamena. They shook her to snap her out of the state she was in. Pinkamena had came back into reality and realized that the pain she felt was merely an illusion. She hugged Lucario and Kirby. Tears forming in her eyes, both from joy and fear. She had never felt so scared, so helpless as she was when that voice spoke to her. Left immobile as it warned her of her actions. It told of the Lucario's past and his desire to leave and what happened when his wish was granted.
She released them from the hug and looked into their eyes. She spoke so calmly towards them. Not saying what she had seen in the mirror. "So are we ready to go?" she asked quietly
"We're going to head off towards Oasis then we go through Scorched Plains" Kirby said
Pinkamena nodded agreeing to the plan. Lucario and Kirby exchanged worried looks then turned their focus back to the journey. Lucario put the mirror in his backpack and slung the bad around his shoulders. Kirby began questioning Pinkamena of what she saw in the mirror, but she ignored all of the questions. And they headed of for Oasis.
Oasis was a very large and very sandy town. The town had appeared to go by a central hub design, with a fountain being the center. The buildings appeared to typically be one story with a few 2 story buildings. They were all white and made of smooth stone. All down the streets there appeared to be merchants similar to the previous town, but with more sand.
Lucario, Kirby, and Pinkamena made their way a through the streets. Kirby and Lucario appeared to be looking for something, but Pinkamena was left in the dark about what. "So, what is that we're looking for exactly?" she asked
"What do you think? We're going into the desert, how about we bring loads of pretzels and forget about the water when we're halfway through it?" Kirby answered sarcastically
"We need to look for something to hold a lot of water." Lucario said "We need it to pass the plains; I thought that was obvious enough"
Pinkamena's cheeks burn from her embarrassment. She should have known that."Oh, I knew that. I meant if there was something in particular we're looking for!", Pinakeman said falsely
"Actually..." Kirby began
"What?" Lucario asked
"Maybe if we send her to, you know, get something cold?"
Lucario's eyes filled with shock. "No... We can't send her to see that...thing..." he said.
"Really? So I guess being dehydrated isn't good enough of a death for you. You need to burn up in the desert heat as well?"
Lucario groaned angrily. He spoke quietly to Kirby "I wish there was any other way around this. But there isn't. We pissed her off enough last time we went through the Scorched Plains. She doesn't know Pinkamena, so maybe she could convince her to give us something to let you absorb to use your Ice powers." Lucario turned to Pinkamena "Pinkamena, you need to find a human named Sarah Castor. She's not hard to find. She's somewhere in the bazaar, the big area with a lot of merchants. And she has powers of frost. She might even be one of the merchants. Just go find her and see if you can get her to give you some ice cubes or anything with ice, alright? Take my bag to put it in."
Pinkamena nodded her head and trotted off. When she was no longer in sight, Lucario punched Kirby. "What did you do that for?!" Kirby yelled.
"Because you know that Sarah will kill anyone working with us since you ate her most famous ice sculpture! Why would you even think about ever sending Pinkamena to see her to get ice?!" Lucario explained
"I didn't. I was going to find something else, but that was the only source of ice I could think of. And besides, you sent her to see Sarah. Not me."
Lucario thought about that. He had sent Pinkamena, not Kirby. He sighed and shook his head."Alright, then what do we do until she gets back?" he asked.
"How about we get directions through the plains? We lost the map last time and I'm sure that neither of us remember the route."
Lucario agreed and they questioned everyone around for directions through the Scorched Plains.
Pinkamena trotted along the streets of Oasis looking for Sarah Castor. When she finally arrived at the Bazaar, she heard yelling and saw that there was something going on. She walked up to the noise and saw a lot of humans pushing and shoving each other to reach a stand. They were blocking Pinkamena's view of the merchant at the stand. She stepped around the crowd and caught a glimpse of who was running the stand.
The merchant was a woman with long blonde hair and wore light blue robes that went down to her knees.The robes seemed to slightly shimmer in the light of the sun, it reminded Pinkamena of diamonds.The woman spoke very soothingly to the swarm of angry customers even though they were all yelling at her. And as she spoke, everyone began to quiet down.
"Everyone, please calm down." the woman started, "I know the recent drought has brought nothing good and made us all panic to get water to drink, but I can't supply enough for all of you. I have been working as fast as I can. I will continue to make ice and let it melt into water for you all to drink. But, I need my rest. If you come back tomorrow morning, I promise that there will be more water."
The crowd groaned angrily and slowly dispersed away from the stand leaving only Pinkamena and the woman there. The woman sighed and sat down on a stool behind her. She closed her eyes and looked down towards the ground.
Pinkamena walked up to the merchant and asked, "Excuse me?"
The woman at the stand glared up towards Pinkamena. Her eyes were a light blue and they sparkled like the robes she wore. She spoke in a less gentle voice and sounded almost hostile towards Pinkamena."Yes? What do you want?"
"I'm looking for someone named Sarah Castor. Are you her?" Pinkamena questioned
"Yeah I am." the woman responded, "Why are you asking?"
"I'm planning on going through the Scorched Plains with my friends and we need something cold to beat the heat."
Sarah squinted her eyes as if she was considering something. She then looked down and reached for something underneath the counter of the stand. She then placed a clear glass bottle on the counter. It was a simple glass bottle with a cover that was also glass. Inside was filled with water and a few ice cubes floating around as well. "There, that should last. There's a spell on it that makes it refill whenever the cap is on it, but the glass can't be full or else the spell won't work.And if you break the bottle while the cap is on, the cap will continue to pour water out and won't stop unless the cap is broken as well.." Sarah pushed the bottle closer to Pinkamena.
"Okay, thank you!" Pinkamena quickly grabbed the bottle, put in in her bag, and turned to leave. Sarah coughs loudly to grab Pinkamena's attention.
"I'm giving you that for free, so you need to do something for me. As you can see, people here are thirsty and I can't provide for all of them. I need you to refill the well in the Scorched Plains. When it's refilled, all the water will be restored to Oasis. Here, this is something for you to use to fill it up." She pulled out a glass ring that looked like the rim of the bottle Pinkamena had. Pinkamena grabbed it and placed it in her bag as Sarah explained. "I can't do this myself because if I stop making ice to melt, people here will die of thirst and I can't let that happen. And that' the only bottle I've got with that spell. And the only one in this dimension. If you put the rim on the cap, the cap will shoot out the water like if it was on the bottle. It shoots out at a high velocity rate. Not to mention, it makes great pest control."
Pinkamena tilted her head, confused about the statement Sarah just made. "What do you mean by that?"
"You'll see when you get to the Plains with your friends... Wait, who are your friends?" Sarah asked
"Pinkamena smiled and replied, "Oh they're a Pokemon and a big, round, circular...thing."
Sarah's eyes went wide as she asked, "Infernape, Lucario, and Kirby?"
"No just Lucario and Kirby. They're helping me get home to Equestria." Pinkamena explained.
"Those guys... They ruined my career! I used to be a famous ice sculptor until that fat Kirby ate my best piece!" She began to rise from her seat, literally. She was floating while a thin layer of mist surrounded her. She moved her hand towards Pinkamena. Pinkamena went to step back, but her legs were frozen in place. When she looked down, she saw that they really were frozen. A patch of ice replaced the ground Pinkamena was standing on and it rose up from Pinkamena's hooves and continued up. It was at her knees at the moment.
"I swore I would kill anyone involved with them. They ruined my career and my life!." Sarah laughed quietly. "Maybe I could just freeze you and make you into a sculpture? I should actually thank them for sending you! It's going to be a masterpiece! Those people aren't grateful for what I give them, I won't help them anymore. I'll make my dreams come true before I save their lives!" Her laugh escalated to sounding like a maniac. "How does that sound? You're going to love it!" Sarah continued to laugh and every laugh sent fear down Pinkamena's spine. She screamed for help, but she knew that Lucario and Kirby were probably halfway across the city from her, thought it was the only thing she could think to do in a situation like this.
The ice had risen up to Pinkamena's neck and slowly began to cover her head. She felt the ice around her cheeks. There was no escape from this... She was doomed. Pinkamena didn't want to struggle against the ice, it would be pointless. She closed her eyes as the ice covered her entire head and she was frozen alive.