"When I had journeyed half of our life's way,
I found myself within a shadowed forest,
for I had lost the path that does not stray"
...Darkness...it was all that surrounded her. The only thing she could see was a strange purple wall in front of her... she forgot why it was there, she was just focusing on it... it was like... like an obligation...
A strange noise, a familiar voice calling her broke the hypnotic spell that made her look at the wall...
...In that instant, the wall began to melt... her memories began to fade away like the wind... and a strange sensation took over her body...
...And there, she saw it: a terrifying monster, coming from the wall, laughing at her... she saw the flames coming from that thing, covering her in a blazing fire...
...She couldn't see what or who did it, but she still felt... a backstab... it was like being pushed into an endless pit...
She heard her voice... laughing at herself... laughing at her terrified screams as she fell into oblivion...
The pink pony woke up in that moment, bathed in cold sweat. She was lying down in the floor of a decadent building. It looked similar to the inside of a Town Hall, just like the one in...
She let out a small scream in pain. Her head hurted a lot and she couldn't remember almost anything. The only thing she could remember was a name...
-Pinkamena Diane Pie... - she said quietly - Could that be me? Is that my name?
The poor pony had no memory of herself. In fact, she had no memory of nearly anything. Who was she? What was her name? Where she was? She could only remember that name, so she supposed that must be her own name...
The young mare proceeded to look around where she was. It seemed to be the ruins of an old Town Hall, which seemed oddly familiar to her. The walls were covered in purple paint, and had a really depressing look. On the floor, the pony noticed an old rusted metal pipe. She had no idea of where she was, so the pony decided to take the old pipe as a weapon, just in case.
Searching around the place, she noticed a big, wrecked door that appeared to lead outside the building. Grabbing the pipe with her mouth, the pink pony proceeded to walk towards the door, completely clueless of what was behind it. She began to open it really slowly, preparing herself to attack if something jumped towards her...
Now she was outside, and the environment was completely different. She found herself in what appeared to be a destroyed town, with weakened buildings about to fall apart. The skies above her weren't the usual blue, but instead had an eerie red color. And right where the sun could be, the pony noticed something similar to... a mirror, a mirror made of water...
The images of her nightmare came back to her, causing the pony to scream in pain.
All of a sudden, she heard a strange noise, like if someone was trotting nearby. The young pony checked out the deserted streets in front of her, but she saw nothing that could be alive. Yet the sound became stronger every time, like if something or someone was trotting where she was. The pony began to get scared, and quickly grabbed the pipe she was carrying as she prepared to attack whoever or whatever tried to injure her. That's when she heard it, when she heard that voice... it was clear it came from the same thing trotting towards her...
- FU...FUUUUN...FUUUUN... - whatever was saying that, sounded like a demented, distorted version of her own voice.
The young pony turned to her left, and what she saw... if it wasn't that she clearly woke up minutes ago, she could have sworn it was a nightmare. In front of her, a creature with claws for hooves was approaching towards her. The most disturbing part was the creature looked like her, just without eyes and with fangs for teeth.
The young pony screamed in terror and tried to run away from the creature. Hopefully, the monster was clumsy and slow moving, it was almost like it was already injured before she met with it. But for her disgrace, she couldn't outrun it for much, as she reached a point where the floor beneath her hooves broke into pieces, leading into nothing but emptiness below.
As she tried to find another way, she kept asking herself where in Equestria was she?! And how did she got there in first place?! Could it be... that she was in Tartarus?!
-...FUUUUUN...F...FUUUN... - she could hear the creature following her, and she got even more terrified when she believed to hear more than one voice chasing her.
Trying to fool those monsters, the pink pony decided to hide inside a building, expecting that the monsters could keep looking for her on the empty streets. And it was really curious that the very first building that she noticed, was one made out of cookies and candies. The only sight of it gave her the strange feeling that she has been already there... like...if it was some kind of home or something.
She had not much time; the monsters were coming closer and closer every moment so she hurried up and entered inside the building, and then proceeded to block the entrance with some furniture she found. The pony waited for the monsters to go away, hearing their hoofsteps coming closer and closer, but just the same way they appeared, she heard the monsters going away, probably still looking for her.
Finally she managed to take some fresh air, as she was completely exhausted from running away. She was safe now, at least for the moment, as long as she didn't leave...
- "Sugar Cube Corner"? - The young pony noticed a small sign above her.
She looked around her, realizing the building she got inside was in fact a Bakery... a really familiar one...
...The Cakes Family... Carrot and Cup Cake... their foals Pound and Pumpkin Cake... working with them... living at... Sugarcube Corner... in Ponyville...
She began to remember things! That was her home, where she lived and worked: Sugarcube Corner! And she was still in Ponyville, Equestria! But then... what happened to Mr. and Ms. Cake? Where were their foals? And what happened to the whole town? Those monsters sure had something to do with it. And their resemblance with her...
Another noise! This one came from inside the kitchen. But... it didn't sound anything like hoofsteps, neither as claws touching the floor... it was... it was like somepony dropped a glass and broke it. Something or someone was inside with her. Was it a monster? Or could it be... a pony?
Arming herself with the metal pipe again, she walked slowly into the kitchen, trying not to make any sound. If there was a monster in there, she couldn't want to call its attention. She tried to control herself, but she was trembling in fear, insecure of what was there with her.
Once again, she heard another noise, but this time, it was like someone slammed a door. It came directly from where she was. Looking around, she noticed that the oven was shaking, like f someone just closed it seconds ago. It was clear for her that something got inside, but the oven was just big enough for a filly to fit in. Taking a deep breath, the pony approached the oven, she began to open it, and for her surprise, she noted that inside of it...
- AAAAAAAAH! - A small colt screamed in terror when she saw the pink pony finding his hideout, scaring her too.
- AAAAAAAAH! WHO IN THE HAY ARE YOU?! - The poor pony felt like her heart nearly fainted.
- I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you. - The young colt apologized - I thought you were one of those Remnants walking across these streets.
- You... you mean those strange creatures?
- Yes. They suddenly appeared here like out of nowhere. - The colt began to explain - They are the leftovers of the Lake's magic. When a clone is returned to the lake, it becomes a Remnant.
- Lake's magic? Clones? - The pink pony felt like memories were coming back at her, and once again the pain in her head increased, making her faint.
... Legend of... Mirror Pond... Out of control... Friends harmed... Everyone angry... Angry at her...
- Are you ok, girl? - The young colt said as he helped the pink pony to stand up. - You seem a little...
- It's... It's ok. - But the truth is, she was feeling guilty, the memories made her guilty, even if she didn't understand what they meant... But she stopped thinking about it when she focused on the colt: he wasn't older than 13 years old, his mane was black as coal and his coat was of a white color. His eyes were of an intense blue color - By the way, I never asked your name, young boy.
- Oh, right! My name's Stormy Brave, nice to meet you, eh...
- Pinkamena Diane Pie, at least I think that's my name.
- Pinkamena? That's a nice name, but... can I call you Pinkie Pie? I think it sounds better.
...Pinkie Pie... I am Pinkie Pie...
The pink pony felt a strange sensation. It was like... like a missing part of her just came back. Then she remembered: That was her name!
- Pinkie Pie... - for the first time since she woke up, the pink pony managed to smile - ...That's my name... I'm starting to remember...
But soon her smile turned into horror as she began to tie her memories up...
She was Pinkie Pie... She used the Mirror Pond to clone herself... To bring happiness to her friends... She couldn't remember who they were, which were their names... she just remembered... she remembered that they were angry at them... Then she forgot if she was the real Pinkie... Every clone looked just like her... Then the trial... The Wall with the painting... Having to watch it without distracting... Distracted by the sound of... then being vanished by... just like every other clone...
- Please tell me, Stormy... - Pinkie began to ask in a really terrified voice - Where am I?
- You are in what we like to call the Limbo of Lost Memories, inside the Mirror Pond. - Young Stormy said, confirming the mare's greatest fear.
- ...I'm in the Mirror World... does that means... that I'm just a clone?
To be Continued...