A Moment Of Weakness
Hi! My name is Pinkie Pie!
...Or is it? I'm not so sure anymore. You see, since a few hours ago, I'm not the only Pinkie running around in Ponyville. The original tried to have as much fun as possible by making duplicates of herself through the Mirror Pool, and now nopony can tell the original from the copies, not even me! And when I can't differentiate between me and myself anymore, you know somethings very wrong.
Twilight said she could fix this if she could only tell the real me apart. So I told her that the prime process to pick the proper Pinkie from the pretenders I could promptly perceive: have all of us do something not fun. Only the real Pinkie would pass because she wouldn't want to never see her friends again.
But even I'm not optimistic about that idea. The fakes might also feel a strong connection to the others. They might even share the originals memories, I wouldn't know. I mean, some of them didn't know Pinkie's friend, but others did. I did, at least. I guess I can't speak for any of the others.
"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at the town hall!" calls the voice of Rainbow Dash to me. "And why are you drawing frowny-faces on the ground? Eh, doesn't matter, I guess. You're coming with me."
She then proceeds to pick me up and fly me towards said town hall. I don't struggle or try to get free. Why would I? There's a good chance I am just a copy of a pony, a fake, forged from that Celestia-forsaken pond.
"Wait up! I got one more! Found this one poking at the ground with her hoof, drawing frowny-faces." Rainbow explains to Twilight, who is standing upon a stage.
"Have her sit with the others," comes Twilight's reply. After which Rainbow unceremoniously drops me into the crowd of Pinkies Twilight seems to have assembled.
"Pinkies, you've been brought here to take a test!" Twilight continues, drawing a collective 'aww' from all Pinkies. Except for me. Weird. "Don't worry, it's a simple test; about as simple as they come. And whoever passes gets to stay."
So it seems she took my advice. And if I know Twilight she took my word to heart and made this test the most boring thing a pony can think of. Might as well participate, though. It was my idea, after all. Plus, in the unlikely event that I am the real Pinkie, I wouldn't just want to intentionally fail.
All of the other Pinkies have shrugged in the amount of time it took me to come to that conclusion. I wonder why I don't seem to have the same reactions to things the others have.
"curtain, please!" Spike then pulls on a cord, to reveal... a wall. Well that was anticlimactic. "The test will be watching paint dry!" Twilight announces while Fluttershy and Rarity push the wall to the front of the stage, getting a collective gasp, again, from all Pinkies except me. Seriously, why does that keep happening? Can't blame them, though. I remember the last time I, or Pinkie, watched paint dry. I'm still not entirely used to the orange room now being the pink room.
"On your mark! Get set! Go!" We all immediately start staring at the purple wall as if our lives depended on it. Which they kinda do, now that I think about it. Better keep staring at that wall.
"Whah! This is so exciting," proclaims Spike from his stool. He can talk; he's not in danger of never seeing his friends again! That's the last thing I'd want. Wait a minute here... Wouldn't that, by my logic make me the real Pinkie? That would also explain why I don't behave like the others. Yes, I think I am the real one! I'm the real Pinkie! But wait. That means I have to get through this. Otherwise I'll never see my friends again! No getting distracted now Pinks, you need to beat these fakes, show them you are the genuine article!
10 minutes later
"Okay, maybe not that exciting." Spike had worked through his box of popcorn and was clearly getting bored. Not one of us had moved an inch since this competition started.
Did I just hear somepony scratching the back of their head?
"Oh hey, look at the birdy!" one of the im-Pie-sters exclaimed. Finally, some of them are letting their guard down. And this one gets a zap from Twilights horn for her troubles, before disappearing through the window as a puff of smoke, presumably back to the pond.
Two more quickly follow, one of them apparently jumping up to touch the ceiling with the other watching. Soon followed by another three! And another two! It's getting increasingly harder to keep staring at the paint with everything that's going on around me, but the thought of my best friends keeps me going.
The group continues to shrink, every clone getting distracted by something. Soon, there are only two of us left. This one's resilient, not showing a bit of fatigue, while I'm sweating bullets. We sit in silence for a long time, not a sound could be heard.
"Ugh, I can't take it anymore. Somepony's making balloon animals!" Don't look. Don't look. Don't look. Don't l-
"What? Where?!"
...I looked. Dammit Dash, you know I can't help myself when balloon animals are involved. I guess this is it then, the end for the original Pinkemina Diane Pie. I quickly get zapped by Twilight's spell, but not before I catch a quick glimpse of the one clone who stared longer than me. Earplugs. Why didn't I think of that? Just reach into hyperspace and pull out something to give myself an advantage. Too late now, I suppose.
As I'm turned into a wisp, I'm surprised to find I am still capable of thought. I figured every Pinkie just ceased to be when getting hit with that spell. That makes me wonder, what exactly does happen when one gets hit with it? The spell did sting a little, so one’s senses are not shut down, or at least not immediately. Do they disappear after they go back into the pond? And if not, what does happen? I guess I'm about to find out, tough; I'm almost touching the pool.