Too Many Pinkies
Pony's Log Number 303: One Pinkie is fun, Two Pinkies is a crowd, Three dozen Pinkies...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
It was another day in Ponyville as Twilight and Mario were busy working on fine tuning their magical skills. Spike was their main cheering section. Twilight then cast her magic on an apple sitting on a table. The apple glowed and stretched out a bit before it simply returned to its normal shape.
"Try again, Twi, you can do it!" Spike said with encouragement.
"Yeah, the fact the apple was shifting shows that your making some progress on the spell, sweetie," Mario added.
"Phew, this spell's a toughie," said Twilight, wiping her brow, "But I feel lucky this time."
"Twilight, you don't need luck," said Mario, "You got the skill."
"Will you stop kissing up to her?" Spike remarked.
"I'm not kissing up to her," said Mario, "As you said long ago, Twilight is a very magically talented unicorn. She's gonna do it!" Twilight giggled before she began to charge up her horn.
"One, two..." Twilight counted down.
"Hi!" said Pinkie as she slammed into Twilight. This caused Twilight's magic blast to miss and ricochet about until it hit a nearby blue bird in a tree, turning its body into an orange.
"Nnnnng," Twilight groaned as Pinkie held her firmly, "Pinkie, why'd you do that?!" Twilight then roughly pushed the pink pony off and glared at her.
"'Cause hugs are funneriffic, especially when you thow one around a friend," Pinkie answered as she wrapped her fore-legs around herself and then untangled them with ease.
"I'm a hugger as much as the next pony, Pinkie," said Mario, "but there's a time and place for them..." Mario's voice strained as Pinkie gave him a overly tight hug. While Twilight knew Pinkie only loved Mario like a brother now, she still felt jealous seeing her coltfriend being hugged by a mare other than herself. She couldn't help but glare at Pinkie. Not that the pink pony took notice.
"Whatcha doin'?" Pinkie asked as she let Mario go and he wobbled a bit before recomposing himself.
"Trying to turn that apple into an orange!" Twilight replied, rather annoyed.
"But you kind threw her aim off," Spike added as he noticed the flying orange with blue wings go by.
"Wheee!" Pinkie giggled when she saw the flying orange, "What a cute orange birdie! Do me next, Twilight! Do me, Do me!"
DOING!
Pinkie was so excited that when she turned around to bounce away, she ended up colliding headfirst into Rarity, who was currently wearing a black cloak over herself and some long pink fore-gloves. The two were left dazed for a few moments.
"Ooooh, Rarity," said Pinkie as she recovered first, "wanna see Twilight turn me into an orange? It's gonna be funna-fun-fuuun!" Pinkie bounced up and down three times excitedly.
"As fun as creating this haute couture ensemble that I just finished making," said Rarity as she removed the black cloak to show them a beautiful dark pink and magenta dress with sea blue trimming on the skirt with pink shoes on her hind legs and pink fore-leg stockings with her mane styled in an up-do, "Delightful, non?"
"Indeed," said Mario, "My marefriend would look great in that dress for one of our dates." Rarity gasped.
"What about moi?" Rarity asked, dramatically looking shocked and hurt.
"Rarity, of course you look fabulous in it," Mario remarked, "I'm just saying your ensemble would look great on Twilight as well."
"Are you buying?" Twilight asked.
"If you really want the dress, sure," said Mario, "Just know that just because I'm your coltfriend that I am not your pocket book." Twilight just gave him a playful raspberry as Mario returned the gesture. Rarity chuckled. Pinkie then gasped.
"This is terrible!" Pinkie exclaimed in shock.
"I admit it's perhaps not my finest work, but I-" Rarity was then interrupted as Pinkie got into her face. Their noses making a honk sound.
"You had total-awesome-amazing fun and I missed out on it?!" Pinkie continued as she lightly bounced towards Twilight and Mario, "Neh! Wait! What if there's more awesome amazing fun with friends happening somewhere in Ponyville right now that I'm missing out on too?!" Pinkie stood on her hind legs and, before anypony could answer, zoomed off. They just watched her leave in silence.
"We weren't going to turn her into an orange! I swear!" Spike said as Twilight and Rarity just watched Pinkie disappear with blank faces. Mario rolled his eyes.
"Even if we were," Mario said after a few seconds of silence, "A banana would have been more appropriate."
"And you would have been a coconut," Twilight remarked. Mario snorted.
"And you would have been a egg, you egghead," Mario retorted. Twilight lightly shoved him before getting back to her little magic trick.
Just outside of town, Rainbow was busy doing some adjustments to a nearby cloud that was on the ground. She was using her tails to whack it when Pinkie arrived.
"Hey, Rainbow Dash," said Pinkie cheerfully, "whatcha doing?"
"This punk cloud got so heavy its making fog," Rainbow answered, "Figure I'll thin this bad boy out so it floats back up." Pinkie's entire body then vibrated into the air as she gasped.
"Oooh, fun!" said Pinkie as she ran around Rainbow very quickly, making the cloud rise, "Wheeeeee! Gotta go!" Pinkie then took off at high speed once more.
"Uh, thanks, Pinkie...?" said Rainbow, feeling a tad puzzled. Pinkie then headed toward Sweet Apple Acres where Applejack was walking down a road pulling a wagon filled with apples and little Apple Bloom riding inside among the apples.
"Hey Applejack!" said Pinkie as she bounced up to the orange pony, "That looks like fun, can I join you?" Pinkie then hopped in the front end of the wagon for a few seconds.
"Wheee! Next time, I'll pull you!" Pinkie pointed as she hopped out and zoomed away, leaving Applejack and Apple Bloom watching her disappear with puzzled looks on their faces.
Just outside the Everfree Forest, Fluttershy and Angel were just having a little tea party when Pinkie arrived, clearly looking out of breath.
"Fluttershy!" Pinkie panted as she popped out from behind a grass mound, "There...you...are...! Doing..." Pinkie took a deep breath, "anything..." Pinkie took another deep breath, "...fun?"
"Not especially," Fluttershy replied slowly.
"Oh, good," said Pinkie, "Fun...is hard...!" Pinkie then sighed before collapsing into her back.
(lose a life fanfare)
Fluttershy and Angel just exchanged confused looks with each other.
(Main Theme)
Later in Ponyville park, a nearby bench was loaded with hundreds of beautiful butterflies. Fluttershy then landed beside it.
"Feeling better, Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked kindly as the butterflies flew off revealing a fancy white and pink sofa with Pinkie reclining on it.
"Abso-tutely-lutely!" Pinkie replied as a butterfly landed on her nose, "Thanks for letting me rest in your butterfly grove while I get my Pinkie strength back!"
"What are friends for?" said Fluttershy with a smile.
"That's just the thing!" Pinkie remarked, squeezing Fluttershy's face a few times before letting go and standing on the sofa and leaning her head against the backrest, "I've got so many wonderful friends having fun in every last corner of Ponyville, I can't figure out how to keep up with it all! It's driving me more coco-loco then usual!" Pinkie made her eyes look a bit cross-eyed before...
wait...did she just admit she's coco-loco?!
Our little pink pony is growing up! (Sheds a tear)
"I can promise to not do anything fun at all if that would help," Fluttershy offered with a sad but sympathetic look on her face.
"You are such a good friend," said Pinkie, her tone grateful at Fluttershy's suggestion when Applejack arrived from behind the sofa.
"There you are, Pinkie," said Applejack as the pink pony looked at her upside down, "Been lookin' everywhere for ya, girl."
"Hey, Pinkie," said Rainbow as she made a landing near Fluttershy, "Got something fun planned this afternoon thought you might wanna know about."
"Heh. Well, I'll be an apple crisp," said Applejack as she leaned on the sofa from the back, "I'm here for the same reason."
"This is perfect!" said Pinkie as the others gathered around her, "Everyone will now bring their fun to me. Ha, this'll solve everything! Why didn't I think of that?" Pinkie then rubbed her fore-hooves together and then bounced around as some butterflies surrounded her.
"Actually, what I meant is after I'm done whipping up today's weather," said Rainbow as she landed by the pink pony and the butterflies dispersed, "I'll be chilling by the lake catching some rays. Wanna hang?"
"I am so there," said Pinkie as she waved her fore-legs about excitedly, "Wheee."
"And my family's havin' a barn-raisin' this afternoon at Sweet Apple Acres," said Applejack as she stood next to Fluttershy.
"And I'm also so there," said Pinkie as she bounced up and down excitedly, "Whee, whee."
"But...that's when I'll be at the swimming hole," said Rainbow, "Ah, well, doesn't matter. Whichever one you choose is okay with me."
"Me too," Applejack added as she and Rainbow stood beside Pinkie. Pinkie gasped.
"Choose?" Pinkie spluttered with a panicky look on her face.
Back outside the cafe, Twilight got ready for another try at her little transformation spell as she made her horn glow. Mario and Spike watched with interest with the former behind Twilight and the other to the side.
"One, two..." Twilight counted down, but then a pink blur zoomed past and lightly stomped on Twilight's back, causing her to misfire again. The magic blast bounced off a wall...and was heading for Mario!
"YIPE!" Mario yelped as he raised his fore-legs in front of himself. His body shook as he managed to successfully deflect the magic blast away, but the blast continued toward a nearby pond, turning a frog into an orange. Twilight was stunned.
"Did you just...block a magic blast head on?!" Twilight asked as Spike's jaw dropped.
"Pretty much," said Mario as he waved his fore-legs about, "Since Chrysalis's attack, I've been trying to build up my magic resistance and immunity. It's still a work in progress. I was able to avoid the effects of your magic blast by blocking it with my fore-legs, but I still haven't managed to do that without it hurting a bit...ow..." Twilight grabbed his fore-hoof with her own and kissed them, making Mario blush a bit.
"Feeling better?" she asked sweetly.
"Thanks..." Mario squeaked, feeling a bit embarassed until the two ponies noticed a pink blur go by, knocking the table that had the apple on it.
"Pinkie!" Twilight shouted, "What in the wide, wide world of Equestria are you doing now?" Pinkie then tried to put on the brakes, but she slid so much that the dirt piled up in front of her and sent her underground before she could stop. Pinkie just poked her head out of the dirt and looked at what appeared to be a stopwatch around her neck.
"Timing myself galloping back and forth between the swimming hole and Sweet Apple Acres," said Pinkie as the two ponies and Spike walked up to her and she bounced about, "I'm trying to cut down my time so if Rainbow dives off the swing, I can get to Sweet Apple Acres to help with the barn raising, and then be back in time to see Rainbow Dash hit the water after doing a double flip." Pinkie then looked at her stopwatch again and sighed, "If I can cut my time by only twenty minutes, I'm good." Twilight couldn't help but laugh.
"Oh, Pinkie," said Twilight as she walked away and fixed the table and the apple back into place, "I'm afraid no matter how hard you try, the only way to pull something like that off is if there's more of you to go around."
Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock...RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
Pinkie's head rotated to the beat of a clock and then the pupils of her eyes shrunk and vibrated.
"That's it, Twilight!" said Pinkie excitedly as she rushed up to Twilight, knocking over the table and the apple again, "the legend of the Mirror Pool!" Pinkie then took off and bounced away at high speed.
"Legend of the who-what now? Pinkie!" Twilight shouted but Pinkie was out of sight, "Mario and I are familiar with loads of legends, but I've never heard of-"
"The Legend of the Mirror pool is a special magical pond located somewhere in the deepest reaches of the Everfree Forest," Mario explained, "it is said that with the right chant and by looking at their reflection in the water that they can make copies of themselves."
"Interesting..." said Twilight, "but...it's just a legend...isn't it?" Mario shuttered.
"I hope so," said Mario, "Remember that nightmare I used to get when Pinkie had that huge crush on me?"
"The one about the million Pinkie Pies taking you away from the library and being forced to date them, get married to them, and then Pinkie showed you two little foals that look just like her?" Twilight asked. Mario cringed and his body shook once more.
"I still get goosebumps about it," Mario said. Twilight just nuzzled her head under his chin to calm him down.
"It's okay, sweetie," Twilight said gently, "it's all in the past. You're my stallion now." They two exchanged cute smiles with each other.
"Does this mean practice is over?" Spike asked hopefully.
"Of course not!" said Twilight, "Back to work, Mario still has to try after me!" Spike just made a long face.
As Mario, Twilight, and Spike got back to work, Pinkie was making her way through a dark and foggy part of the Everfree forest.
"Seems like hardly anypony's been here in ages," said Pinkie to herself, "I hope I'm remembering the rhymes right from my Nana Pinkie's story. "Where the branches are thickest, there you will find a pond beyond the most twisted of vines!" It was then her voice echoed through the area.
"Who was that?! Oh, I heard a voice!" Pinkie jumped, but then smiled, "Oh. Hehe. It was me." Pinkie then pushed her way through some thick and thorny vines.
"Ouch! Ooh. Stop scratching me up, you brambles and-" Pinkie grumbled before she soon found she was walking on air and fell into a hole, "Whoooaaa!" With several thuds, whacks, and honks, Pinkie tumbled down a long and twisty tunnel and then faceplanted the bottom. She had to literally peel her face off of the ground and then gasped at what she saw.
"The Mirror Pool!" said Pinkie as she noticed a rather calm body of water and her voice echoed throughout the cavern, "Oh, and there's that voice again! Tsk, tsk, tsk. Ah Pinkie, you've got to stop talking to yourself. Starting...now." Pinkie then approached the pond and looked at her reflection.
""And into her own reflection she stared"," Pinkie recited, struggling to remember the rhyme, "yearning for one whose reflection she shared, and solemnly sweared not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly mared!" It was then Pinkie then stepped into the water, the surface then flipped over so Pinkie resurfaced on the other side to meet...herself!?
"Wheee-heee!" said Pinkie, or...who shall be dubbed Pinkie 2, as she bounced about the area.
"Wow, the legend is true," said Pinkie, "it really worked!" Pinkie 2 was just bouncing about chanting "Fun, fun!" constantly as she bounced about the area.
"Okay, wait," said Pinkie, "I promised not to talk to myself anymore. I should say something to her. Or...would that still be talking to myself?" Pinkie thought for a moment as Pinkie 2 just bounced and zipped about.
"Excuse me, me?" Pinkie called out, "Can I have a word with you?" Pinkie 2 then came over to Pinkie, but kept bouncing up and down.
"Uh, I mean, me," said Pinkie, "Listen, I can see you're having lots of fun, but-"
"Fun?! Did somebody say fun? Where?" Pinkie 2 replied energetically.
"I did, over here!" said Pinkie.
"I thought someone said something about fun!" said Pinkie 2 as she jogged in place, "Where is it? Over here? Over here? I don't see it. Where is it? Where is it?"
"Whoa, calm yourself, Pinkie," said Pinkie told her double, "there's loads of fun to be had in Ponyville with my girls and Mario. Trot on over back to Ponyville with me and I'll tell you all about 'em." Pinkie then walked over to the tunnel while her double bounced beside her.
"...And then there's Rarity," said Pinkie as they made their way out of the forest, "She's the one with all the fancy clothes and ribbons and stuff! I'm thinking she can make us all matching t-shirts that say "team Pinkie", and-"
"Is this Ponyville? Where's the fun? Where's the fun?" Pinkie 2 interrupted excitedly.
"Uh, well, let's see, Applejack's having a barn raising at-"
ZOOM!
Pinkie 2 took off at high speed before Pinkie could finish.
"It's that-away!" Pinkie called out.
ZOOM!
Pinkie 2 ran by in the other direction.
"Wait, come back!" Pinkie called out as Pinkie 2 returned, "Don't forget to meet me back here to tell me everything about everything, like I was there myself! Because I'm you and, and you're me, and-Oh, my gosh! This is the greatest plan ever!" Pinkie gave a squee as the two Pinkies jumped into the air.
"Off to double my fun!" said Pinkie as she and Pinkie 2 zoomed off in opposite directions.
Later that afternoon, Rainbow was just reclining comfortably on a beach chair and wearing a pair of sunglasses on her head. She had been reading Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone again when she yawned and decided to stop reading and set the book aside. She then grabbed a sun shield and was about work on her tan.
I get it. She's has fur. Why need a suntan? But just go with it.
It was then Pinkie arrived.
"Let's rock this pool, ponies!" said Pinkie, wearing a snorkel, as she charged for the water and blew up an inflatable ducky inner tube, "Whee!" Pinkie then made a loud splash into the water. Rainbow lowered her sun shield as Pinkie surfaced.
"Coming in, Dashie?" Pinkie asked as she splashed the water with her fore-hooves, "The water's great, it's totally wet and everything."
"I don't know..." said Rainbow as she stretched her fore-legs, "Cloud busting was tougher work than usual today. I'm kinda exhausted." Rainbow yawned as Pinkie came up to her and shook about to dry her fur. Rainbow titled away to avoid getting wet.
"That's fine, you relax," said Pinkie, "at least we'll still be together!"
"Glad you made it, Pinkie," said Rainbow as she relaxed her head behind her fore-legs, "I thought you maybe went to Applejack's, instead."
"I did," said Pinkie as she took off her inner tube and snorkel and she grabbed a nearby rope.
"Oh. The barn up yet?" Rainbow asked.
"I have no idea," Pinkie replied.
"But I thought you said you were just at Applejack's," Rainbow said puzzled.
"Actually, I'm probably still on my way there now!" said Pinkie, "Whee!" Pinkie then swung on the rope and dived into the water with a big splash. Rainbow just rubbed the side of her head, as much as she wanted to dismiss Pinkie's comment as randomness. She wanted to know more about what the pink pony had just said.
Along the path to Sweet Apple Acres, Fluttershy was collecting some berries when Pinkie 2 bounced down the road.
"Oh, Pinkie Pie," said Fluttershy, "I'm so glad you wandered by. I know I promised not to have any fun today, but, oh, I couldn't help myself." Fluttershy pulled back some branches to a bush to reveal a picnic blanket surrounded by her closest animal friends.
"All of my critter friends wanted a picnic, and I couldn't disappoint them," said Fluttershy as she took a seat among them, "Come join us. We have plenty of hay juice and marmalade to go around, don't we critters?" All the critters, or animals, chattered in agreement. Pinkie 2 smiled excitedly as Angel set down the basket of berries Fluttershy had collected. Then a mouse gave a squeak as it came up to Pinkie 2 and offered her a piece of cheese. Pinkie 2 quickly ate it.
"Wait, but that sounds super fun!" said Pinkie 2, "Oh, but Applejohn sounds super fun too! Uh, and, and, I can't do one without missing out on the other!"
"Who's Applejohn?" Fluttershy asked puzzled.
"Two fun things at once?" Pinkie 2 interjected as she got into Fluttershy's face, "But which, which? Oh, can't decide...Trouble breathing...Walls closing in!" Pinkie 2 started to hyperventilate dramatically and looked like a mime being put inside of shrinking box.
"Walls?" said Fluttershy puzzled, "But were outside." Pinkie 2 then shrieked and took off at high speed.
"Goodness," said Fluttershy, still confused, "Was it something I said?" Her bear friend, Harry, who was actually mentioned in "Party of One", just grunted in reply.
"Yes!" Pinkie 2 screamed before running off again.
"Huh?" said Fluttershy, feeling more puzzled than ever.
Meanwhile, Pinkie was actually trying to explain to Rainbow that she had made a copy of herself.
"So you see," Pinkie concluded as she stared at her reflection, "that's how I'm able to have fun in two places at once."
"Duplicates of you, huh?" said Rainbow as she continued to tan with her sun shield and rolled her eyes in disbelief, "Heh, yeah, sure, Pinkie." Rainbow then yawned as she set down her sun shield and shifted her body to the side, "Look, I was just gearing up to catch some Z's, so, uh..."
"Gotcha," said Pinkie replied Rainbow could finish, "I'll have the rest of my fun really quietly." Pinkie then backed away and went to swing from the rope again. Rainbow watched her with one eye.
"Wheeeee..." Pinkie shouted in a whisper as she let go of the rope and then stopped herself in mid air so she slowly sank into the water. Rainbow was left stunned.
"How'd you do that?" said Rainbow.
"Just trying to show a little consideration for my sleepy friend," said Pinkie. It was then her counterpart popped out, "ooh, ooh, gotta run. Looks like I'm trying to get my attention. Excuse me." Rainbow, who had seen the second Pinkie, shook her head as the two Pinkies bounced away. Rainbow cringed before shrugging her shoulder and turned away to sleep, but she couldn't help but wonder if what she had just seen wasn't because she was tired.
"Ooh, ooh, tell me all about it!" said Pinkie as she bounced with Pinkie 2, "Did they pull the walls of the barn up slow or fast?"
"I-" Pinkie 2 stuttered.
"Maybe slow to medium fast, somewhere in that range?" Pinkie asked.
"I-" Pinkie 2 stuttered again.
"Ooh, did you get ice cream?" Pinkie asked excitedly as she got into her double's face, "What kinds did they have? Banana brickle?"
"I didn't make it!" Pinkie 2 bellowed, "I was on my way there and then Fluttershutter-"
"Fluttershy," Pinkie corrected.
"Yeah, her," Pinkie 2 continued, sweating as she spoke, "She offered something else fun for me to do! A picnic with cute, little animals!"
"Aw, how could you say no to that?" Pinkie remarked.
"That's what I'm saying!" Pinkie 2 replied, now upset, "then I would've miss the super fun thing with Applesauce."
"Applejack," Pinkie corrected but her double fell into her back and started crying.
"So I didn't do anything fun at all!" Pinkie 2 bawled.
"Aw, my poor, poor me!" said Pinkie as she comforted her double, "There, there. Tell me what, we just need a couple more Pinkie Pies! Easy peasy!"
"Really?" Pinkie 2 replied as she sat up.
"Come on, would I lie to me?" Pinkie answered as they both shared a smile.
It wasn't long before they were back at the mirror pool.
"...And solemnly sweared not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly mared!" Pinkie and Pinkie 2 recited together, creating two more Pinkies and helping them out of the water.
"Look, a double me!" Pinkie 2 commented.
"I think you mean a double-double me," said Pinkie, "Plus another double-double me, which makes two double-double mes, or a double-double-double me, if you will."
Readers, don't think too much about what she said, you're head will thank you. Besides, all that talk about a double-double is making me hungry for an IN-N-Out hayburger, but I'll do that later...
Back to our group of Pinkies, Pinkie 2 let out a happy squeal.
"Did somebody say fun?" said Pinkie 3, "Where? Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!" Pinkies 2, 3, and 4 continued say "fun" as they ran about the cavern, One of them bit into some tree bark, another swam through the dirt, another just ran amok like a looney, then one of the three decided to try climbing a tree.
"Now Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy are covered, plus one extra Pinkie Pie in case we get an extra invite from somepony else," said Pinkie as she calmly walked about the cavern while her copies bounced about, "Perfect! Okay's let go!" Pinkie then realized her copies weren't listening to her.
"Hey, Pinkies! Yoo-hoo!" Pinkie then turned around to see Pinkie 2, 3, and 4 looking into the mirror pool.
"...and solemnly sweared not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly mared," the three Pinkies said at once and then pulled out three more Pinkies out of the water.
"Okay, good enough," said Pinkie dismissively and turned to leave, "Pinkie Pies, move it out-"
"...not to be scared, at the prospect of being doubly mared," said the Pinkie copies, making the real Pinkie freeze. Her copies were making even more copies of herself!
"What in the name of pink?!" Pinkie exclaimed as she saw dozens of herself before her, "Knock it off!"
"Fun!" the Pinkie copies repeated as they bounced in place before Pinkie.
"To Ponyville, everyone! Follow me!" Pinkie then turned to leave, but her copies just gave her puzzled looks and didn't follow her. Pinkie sighed in annoyance.
"Yes, it's fun there," Pinkie remarked.
"Fun!" The copies repeated endlessly and bounced about as they followed Pinkie out of the cavern.
Pinkie led the parade of copies out of the Everfree Forest. Her copies were continuously repeating "Fun" with an occasional "whee" mixed in. Pinkie then whistled loudly to get their attention.
"Okay, between the bunch of us, we should have every nook and cranny of fun in Ponyville covered at all time," said Pinkie, "An unprecedented and massive undertaking! But first, pop quiz on the names I taught you!" Pinkie then pulled out a whiteboard and showed them pictures of her friends that she had sketched on the fly.
"Applejack! Fluttershy! Pinkie Pie!" the copies said in chorus and then they saw Mario, "Cutie!"
"No, Pinkies," said Pinkie sternly with an eye roll, "Mario is your big brother, not your love interest! He already has a marefriend!"
"Awww..." the copies groaned.
"So aside from that," said Pinkie, "Excellent. Okay, let's get on with this, folks. Fan out on three. One-"
ZOOM!
Pinkie's copies all scattered before Pinkie had finished counting.
"Eh, good enough," said Pinkie as she bounced off, "La-la-la-la-la-la-la, la-la-la, whee!"
Back at the swimming hole, Rainbow was just dozing comfortably in her beach chair. The one pinkie copy giggled as another copy grabbed her tail and used it to tickle the blue Pegasus's nose.
"Achoo!" Rainbow sneezed, knocking her sunglasses off, "What the-" Rainbow looked stunned as she saw all the copies just shouting "fun" and playing around the swimming hole.
"Wow! Pinkie Pie wasn't kidding about the duplicates!" said Rainbow, "Except now there's triplicates...and quadruplicates!" It was then the real Pinkie arrived carrying an inflatable raft on her head.
"Dash is gonna love this!" said Pinkie, "Aw, if I push her around on this floaty thing, it'll be fun and relaxing." It was then Pinkie found all her copies shouting in the distance.
"Uh-oh..." Pinkie said to herself when she saw Rainbow barricading herself with her beach chair tilted up like a wall and holding an umbrella.
"No more Pinkies!" Rainbow shouted angrily as she fought them off with the umbrella, "I can't take it." Strangely enough, a copy walked by in the foreground banging a giant drum.
"Gosh, uh...I wonder what fun they're having raising the barn at Applejack's right now!" said Pinkie to herself quickly, "I'd better go check!" Pinkie then ran off, leaving the raft behind.
At Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack, Big Macintosh, along with their relatives Apple Fritter, and Meadow Song, were making sounds of exertion as they slowly lifted one of the side walls up for the new barn. It was then the copies arrived, shouting "fun!" as they bounced about. There presence made focusing on the job at hand rather difficult. Then one copy stomped on Big Mac's back, causing him to let go of his rope. The others soon lost their ropes as well since they couldn't hold the wall up on their own.
"No!" Applejack shouted as the wall they had just lifted and the other walls that had been set up came tumbling down, leaving only the unfinished silo standing. The copies didn't seem to care and just kept chanting and bouncing around. It was then Pinkie arrived.
"Oh phew! Looks like I haven't missed a thing!" said Pinkie, and immediately got a fierce glare from the orange pony next to her, as well as the rest of the family.
"I wanna know right now where all you Pinkies came from," Applejack demanded, "so I can find out who's responsible for y'all ruinin' our barn raising!" It was then the copies caused the silo to come crashing down.
"Uh, you look pretty busy right now, so," said Pinkie with a nervous laugh, "maybe we should talk a little later?" Pinkie then ran off, not even noticing that her copies had decided to follow her.
"Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!" they continued to chant. Applejack angry slammed her stenson hat into the dirt.
"Y'all come here and clean up after yourselves this instant!" Applejack shouted but the copies paid no attention. They had just passed a tall mount of hay when it was discovered that the real Pinkie was hiding behind it.
"Oh no, what have I done," said Pinkie sadly, "What have I done?! My poor friends..."
Back in town, a large crowd of ponies were gathered around the Great Oak Library. One might ask why the ponies were there and not Town Hall. Some could say Mayor Mare redirected everypony there. Others might say the ponies all knew that this was a problem only Twilight and Mario could fix. After all, the town not only knew that they were a couple, but also great at handling major crisis.
"Okay, everypony, please, calm down!" said Twilight since everypony was very angry.
"Talking and shouting isn't going to solve anything," Mario added.
"Calm down?" Rarity retorted angrily, "I just had a Pinkie hurricane raging through my shop!"
"And they trashed our critter picnic!" Fluttershy added angrily. The rest of the ponies began to shout again.
"Everypony, calm down," Mario shouted, "My marefriend and I will get to the bottom of this, but not with everypony shouting over each other."
"My coltfriend is right," Twilight said after, "Please, everypony, hang on while we try to figure something out! Come on, Spike and Mario! I gotta try to remember the name of that legend she mentioned."
"I think it was the legend of the Mirror Pond," Mario said before they headed inside the library and began to shuffle through the shelves to find the book. As Spike searched through a shelf, he then noticed a wooden panel in the back of the shelf with a horseshoe button on it. Spike pressed the button for the panel to reveal a very old and dusty book. Spike then pulled the book so hard that he went flying backwards into a nearby pile of books Twilight had left. Twilight then picked up the book and opened it.
"Aha, here it is!" said Twilight as Mario walked up to her as she shuffled through the pages, ""The legend of the Mirror Pond"...It describes a spell I can use to send them back where they came from!"
"That's perfect!" said Spike and heads for the front door, "Let's go!"
"But there's a catch," said Twilight.
"Of course there is," Mario remarked with worry.
"If we can't figure out which one's the real Pinkie," said Twilight, "We might send her back by mistake."
"Ooooh, that's not good," Mario said as he and Twilight exchanged worried looks.
"Well, we'll just have to figure out who the real one is then," said Spike, "Shouldn't be too hard."
"I hope so," said Mario, "If following the old logic that the original will always stand out from the duplicates is still effective..." Twilight still looked worried as they quickly headed outside where the crowd was still waiting for them.
"Does anypony here know how we can tell the real Pinkie Pie from the rest of them?" Twilight asked.
"Uh" "I don't know" the crowd murmured to each other. It was then the real Pinkie did make an appearance.
"Twilight!" said Pinkie in desperation, "I have to talk to you, I need your help!"
"Excuse me, whoever you are," said Twilight sternly, "but I'm not talking to any of you Pinkies unless you're the real Pinkie!" Twilight didn't even notice that a copy was mimicking her as she spoke. Mario glared and tried to capture it...but he missed and landed on his stomach.
"But this Pinkie does seem rather level headed," Mario remarked as he got back up.
"We need more proof!" said Twilight, "and Pinkie is never level-headed!"
"She can be!" Mario protested, "Why not just trust your gut for once?"
"Sweetheart, I'm a mare of science, not instinct," Twilight remarked smugly.
"I noticed," Mario retorted with an eye roll.
"Oh, but, but I am the real Pinkie!" said Pinkie as the crowd glared at her.
"No, you're not!" said copy number 1 as she stood next to Pinkie, "I'm the real Pinkie!"
"I'm the real Pinkie!" said copy number 2, standing next to Twilight from the left.
"No, I'm the real Pinkie!" said copy number 3, standing next to Twilight from the right.
"I'm the real Pinkie!" said copy number 4 as she appeared from another pony's boiler hat.
"No, I'm the real Pinkie!" said copy number 5 as she appeared under copy number 4.
"I'm the real Pinkie!" said copy number 6 as she stood beside a pony with a fancy mustache.
"Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!" The copies chanted as she bounced about. Twilight and Mario looked rather overwhelmed as Spike looked a tad weary.
"How in tarnation are we supposed to tell which is the real Pinkie?" Applejack asked as she stood beside Twilight.
"Me either. Ohh...We've all got the same adorable tails," said Pinkie as she grabbed a copy's tail, "We've all got the same adorable manes. We've all got the same adorable hooves!" Pinkie then pointed at another copy's mane and then knelt down and pointed at another copy's hooves.
"Which one of us is the real Pinkie?! Oh! I haven't the slightest clue!" said Pinkie sadly, "And if I can't tell us apart...who can?" Pinkie then began to cry. Mario smirked.
"I would know my sister and I believe it is you!" said Mario as he pointed at the crying pink pony.
"No it's me!" said a copy as she cried in the same manner.
"No me!" said another copy doing the same.
"Ugh...well the real Pinkie would have some differences about her," said Mario as he stood in front of the two ponies, "We just have to see which one acts different from the rest! I mean...how many Pinkies are out there...let's see...8, 9, 10,...11...uhh..."
"Did you count that one?" Spike asked.
"I think so..." said Mario, but then lost his patience, "Will you all stop moving around!? This is frustrating! I think I counted that Pinkie twice!" Mario stood on his hind legs and waved his fore-legs about in frustration. Twilight jumped back from the outburst. Then there was trouble, all the Pinkies stopped bouncing around to look at him. Mario felt his body turn ice cold.
"Oh sweet Celestia..." Mario squeaked with utter horror.
"CUTIE!" the Pinkies exclaimed, "Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!" The Pinkies then came at Mario from all sides.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!"
Mario screamed at the top of his lungs, and sadly sounded like a little filly doing so, as the Pinkies came after him.
"HELP ME! HELP ME! HELP ME!" Mario shouted as he ran about the town on his hind legs as the Pinkies continued to chase him and then they disappeared behind a building.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Twilight and Applejack cringed when they heard Mario scream a second time, though this time in a manly tone and not a girly one.
"You try and figure out which one is the real Pinkie," said Applejack, "I'll go make sure your coltfriend is still in one piece." Applejack then took off toward the area she heard Mario's scream. Twilight just watched her disappear with a worried look on her face.
It was another day in Ponyville as ponies tried to just do their normal routines. Two ponies waved at each other from their windows. But then a parade of Pinkie copies came bouncing by, causing the two ponies and several others to shut their windows and their doors. One pony peeked out of their front door fearfully as the copies went by. Twilight was just walking about town with Spike at her side.
"Ugh, this is hopeless!" Twilight groaned as the Pinkies bounced by in the background.
"Maybe that one's the real Pinkie," said Spike as he pointed at a pink pony sitting at a table looking very depressed.
"Please. The real Pinkie Pie never sat that long in one place in her whole life!" Twilight protested.
"I'm gonna go ask," said Spike as he approached the pink pony.
"Of course she's gonna say she's the real Pinkie!" said Twilight, "They all do! You're wasting your time."
"So lemme guess," said Spike as he stood before the pink pony, "You're the real Pinkie Pie."
"Heck if I know," Pinkie replied as Twilight walked up to her, "Could be any one of us if you ask me. And if I said I was the real Pinkie, you wouldn't even believe me anyway. So just leave me alone. I've got some important poking the ground with the hoof to do." Pinkie then walked away, still feeling rather blue.
"Oh, Spike, how're we gonna do this?" said Twilight with worry, "I can't risk sending the real Pinkie back into the pond."
"I miss the real Pinkie," said Spike as he and Twilight turn around and walked away. Neither of them noticed that Pinkie had started to cry.
"I bet she misses you too," said Pinkie with a sigh as a few tears fell down her cheeks, "Bet she'd do just about anything to get to be with her friends again." She squatted low to the ground and poked the dirt for a bit when she got an idea.
"Hey! Hey! What if you gave them a test?" said Pinkie as she walked up to the table and put her fore-hoof on it, "Pick something really hard for a Pinkie to do, something not fun at all! Any Pinkie that can't do it goes back into the pond. But whoever wants to stay the most, that must be the real Pinkie!" Twilight and Spike were still walking away, but then blinked as the former stopped walking.
"You know, that's not a bad idea," said Twilight before she and Spike ran off.
"This is great!" said Pinkie excitedly, "If I pass, I get to be with my friends again!" Pinkie then gasped, "But what if I don't pass. Oh, what if I'm not the real Pinkie Pie?! Ohhhh! Stupid. Magic. Mirror. Water! This is all your fault...and mine!" Pinkie angrily banged her forehead on the table as she mentioned the mirror water, before sighing as she face-planted the table and stayed that way for a bit.
As much as Twilight wanted to figure out the details of her plan, she was worried sick about her coltfriend. She hadn't heard much from Applejack so she decided to head over to Sweet Apple Acres. She wasted no time heading for the barn that acted as their home and knocked on the door.
"Oh...uhh...hi, Twilight," said Applejack.
"What happened?" Twilight asked, "You said you were gonna save Mario. Now, where's my sweetie?"
"Uhh, well," Applejack stuttered nervously, "You...see..."
"You know what I hate about bubblegum?!" said a voice loudly, "It's PINK! And it sticks to you like glue and it won't get off! IT WON'T GET OFF!" Twilight then glared as Applejack then chuckled sheepishly before she rushed inside of the house. There was Mario sitting on the sofa with wide eyes and a crazy smile on his face.
"Welcome everypony to the wonderful world of...Pink, pink, PINK! HEE-Hee-hee!" Mario said in a dork voice, "This portion of the program is sponsored in part by...more Pink! PINK! PINK!" Mario then laughed like a mad pony before batting his lips with a fore-hoof. Twilight looked at him dumbfounded as Applejack just sweated nervously.
"Sweet Celestia what did those Pinkies do to my precious stallion?" Twilight demanded. Applejack just sighed.
"I'm sorry, Twilight," Applejack replied, "They had him cornered and some of the Pinkies were puckering up their lips at him asking for a kiss."
"If any of those Pinkie kissed him I'll..." Twilight threatened in rage.
"They didn't," said Applejack, placing a fore-hoof on Twilight's shoulder to make her settle down, "Mario started just hyperventilating and then...made a face of a pony who had a mental breakdown." Twilight just groaned as Mario just giggled manically.
"Well, fortunately, I think I know a way to snap him out of it," said Twilight as she walked up to Mario and planted a firm two second kiss on his lips.
"No kiddin', you're the only pony allowed to give him that," said Applejack with an eye roll. Mario froze for a moment before his senses cleared.
"Twilight..." said Mario slowly as he shook his head and smiled as they shared an embrace with each other, "I'm so sorry, Twilight. It was horrible. All those Pinkies wouldn't leave me alone and then they tried to kiss me..." Mario just covered his face with his fore-hooves and began to cry. He felt both embarrassed and rather weak at the moment.
"It's alright, sweetie," said Twilight, pulling his fore-hooves off his face and wiping his tears away, "It's going to be okay. I've got a plan to deal with all the Pinkies and a test to find out which one is the real Pinkie."
"Why would you need a test to figure that out?" said Mario puzzled as he finished drying his eyes, "There's gotta be one Pinkie that's acting differently than the rest."
"Are you sure that really would determine who the real Pinkie is?" Twilight asked.
"Twilight!" Mario exclaimed annoyingly, "Don't all the other Pinkies act the same?"
"Well, there was one that was just sitting still looking rather blue earlier today," Twilight pointed out.
"Did she say she was the real Pinkie?" Mario asked with a raised eyebrow.
"She actually said no because she knew I wouldn't believe her," said Twilight.
"Was she bouncing around like a dodo saying "Fun! Fun! Fun"!" Mario asking, mock imitating the Pinkie before making a disgusted face.
"No, she was just sitting there," said Twilight, "but the real Pinkie never sits still!"
"And yet all the other Pinkies were bouncing around like they had eaten a bottomless sack of pure sugar cane," Mario said. Twilight then blinked before raised her head back.
"UUUUUUUUUGGGGGH!" Twilight groaned loudly as she squatted down on the floor with her fore-hooves covering her eyes.
"How could I be so dumb?" Twilight said in frustration, "I had spoken to the real Pinkie this whole time! She was right in front of me and I completely missed it!"
"Well, sweetie, you can be a little clueless sometimes," Mario remarked.
"Hey!" Twilight snapped angrily.
"It is true," said Mario, "Remember when Discord was taking over? How long did it take for you to see the obvious signs that we were all corrupted and not just turning mean due to the stress of the situation?" Twilight just groaned to herself.
"Don't remind me," said Twilight as she sat on her stomach and just rubbed the wooden floor with a fore-hoof, "Sweetie, maybe you should figure out what to do then, since I'm so clueless and all..."
"Hey, don't be like that," said Mario, "You're the true leader of our group and I'm just speaking up because I want you to be a better pony and marefriend. Not to tear you down or discourage you. Just like you help me with my self-esteem problems and my temper. Just like with friendships, our love will grow when we continue to help each grow and become better ponies." Twilight smiled as she stood up, kissed his cheek, and they shared a little cheek nuzzle together.
"Glad you're back with us, Mario," said Applejack once the couple pulled away, "Sorry I wasn't much help."
"It's not your fault Pinkie chased me to death back when she had her crush on me," said Mario, "I hate that I have such a hard time getting over it, and moving past my bad memories regarding it."
"You'll get better, sweetie," said Twilight, "but now we've got to round up the Pinkies."
"Think you can find the real deal now?" Mario asked.
"With you at my side, sweetie, of course," Twilight answered, "But we still need to get them all in one place so I can send them back without hunting them down and making a mistake...and...well..." Twilight rubbed a fore-hoof on the floor again as Mario looked at her suspiciously.
"What are you thinking..." Mario asked with uncertainty.
"Uhh, in order to get them to the testing area, I need some...live bait?" Twilight said with a smile. Mario looked at her agape.
"You know, sweetie," said Mario casually before his tone became stern, "If you wanted to break up with me, you could've just said so instead of just sending me to my execution!"
"Oh quit being such a coward, Mario," said Applejack, "Just like with Fluttershy, sometimes you gotta just face your fears head on!" Mario groaned and looked nervously at the two.
"You can do this," said Twilight, "I'm sure you can think of a creative way to lure them to where I'll give my test."
"And I can help," said Applejack, "You might need somepony to keep them together like sheep being herded to their pin."
"That would help," said Mario, "But what can I...wait! AJ, where's my saddle bag?"
"Over there," Applejack pointed as Mario headed over to his saddle bag on the floor. He then dug about for a few seconds before pulling out a purple flower.
"That's it!" Mario exclaimed, "Follow me!" Twilight and Applejack just exchanged puzzled looks before Mario tossed the flower into the air, turning into magic dust. Then the two girls were left in shock as copies of Mario appeared out of the blue. They quickly joined formation and stood before the original.
"Alright, troops," said Mario sternly as he paced before them, "We've got a dangerous mission on our hooves and I can't do it alone. All about Ponyville are dozens of pink ponies who are clearly out of their minds. It is up to us to round them up and bring them back here."
"So...what are we doing exactly, sir?" a copy asked.
"Each of you must pair up with one of the pink ponies and bring them here to Sweet Apple Acres," said Mario, "Sergeant Applejack will take over from there."
"What should we know about the enemy, sir?" copy 2 asked.
"Bounces about saying "Fun" all the time," Mario answered, "overly energetic and has an unhealthy crush on me." The copies cringed nervously.
"Don't go chickening out in me soldiers!" Mario snapped, making them all flinch, "You hear me?! This is code red! Repeat: We are at code red! Pink pony round up! Execute! Let's move, move, move, move, MOVE!" The Mario copies then followed out as Mario quickly headed to Twilight and placed a headset on her.
"I'll use this to contact you once we get the Pinkies to Sweet Apple Acres," said Mario, "then you can fill us in on where to bring them for the test."
"Gotcha," said Twilight, "Since...I haven't figured something out yet."
"Fabulous!" Mario replied, not hiding his sarcasm, "If I don't make it, tell the others I love my family! You're all I've got to leave behind...good bye!" Mario then went to catch up with his copies. Twilight and Applejack rolled their eyes as he disappeared.
"He's been hanging around Rarity too much," said Applejack.
"Agreed," Twilight responded in a deadpan tone.
"Twilight, I found where the rest of the group is!" Spike called out as he arrived, "And...did I just see a bunch of Marios?"
"I'll explain later," said Twilight, "C'mon!" Spike soon found himself on Twilight's back as they headed towards the location of her friends. It took some effort since they were hiding in the outer edges of a forest when Rainbow appeared from a hole underneath the roots of a large tree.
"Hey, Twilight!" Rainbow called out as the purple pony headed under the tree and found the rest of their friends there as well, including several of Fluttershy's animal critters there as well.
"I've been looking all over for you ponies." said Twilight, "what are you all doing here?"
"Fluttershy spoke with the woodland critters," Rainbow explained as she hovered over the yellow Pegasus, "and they've agreed to take us into their home 'til the Pinkie storm dies down."
"Is Mario doing okay?" Fluttershy asked, "I've been worried about big brother after those Pinkies chased after him. Even I know how awful it is to have a bunch of hecklers follow me and corner me helplessly."
"He's okay," said Twilight, "I even managed to convince him to help me round up the Pinkies." The other's glared at her, "What?"
"I hope you're not taking advantage of his love for you, darling," Rarity remarked.
"I'm not!" said Twilight, "Mario has had a fear about this kind of scenario ever since Pinkie's crush on him. He needs to deal with this head on, but...he did feel the need to give me a will."
"Ooh! What did he leave me?" Rarity asked excitedly as the others including the animals gave her dirty looks, "What? Just asking..."
"Nevermind...you guys, we're gonna fix this," said Twilight with determination, "And I know exactly how."
"Are we gonna lose our real Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy asked as she stood up and gave her a worried look.
"I don't think so," said Twilight, "Mario says he can tell which one is the real deal. But we still need the other Pinkies to be in one place to send them back. Mario is going to message me with this headset once he's got them..." It was then some static was heard from the headset.
"Come in Mother Bird this is Alpha Magic, Come in Mother Bird..."
"Oh, there he is!" said Twilight to the others, "This is Mother Bird. What's the status?"
"We've got all the Pinkies we could find," said Mario, "If there's any more, I sure could use some backup."
"We're on our way," said Twilight, "Are you holding up okay, sweetie?"
"Well, I think of you to stay sane," Mario replied, "but so far no casual...uh oh..."
"What's wrong?" Twilight asked worried, "Are you okay?"
"The copy flower just wore off," said Mario, "It's me against a herd of Pinkies...and they're staring at me again...help..."
"Stay calm and just guide them to town hall," said Twilight, "Come on, everypony, I've already got Applejack and her family rounding up all the Pinkies." The other ponies followed behind Twilight as the rest of Fluttershy's critters stayed behind.
"AHH-HA-HA-HA!" Mario screamed as he ran at a brisk pace across the landscape. Then there was a loud rumbling as a huge stampede of Pinkie's just shouting their "Fun!" chant continuously as Applejack, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Winona focused on keeping the Pinkie's together.
"Hyah, ya Pinkies!" said Applejack as she bumped a copy back into the herd, "Hyah!"
"Ooh, they wanna play chase," said the copies, "This is fun, too!" The Pinkies kept saying "Fun!" as Apple Bloom then bumped a copy back into the herd as Winona bounced from one copy's head to the next to keep them from leaping away. As they approached at the point where Town Hall came into the distance, Mario ran ahead and rushed inside of town hall to get away. Apple Bloom and Big Mac then re-opened the doors as the Pinkies just bounced their way inside, still chanting "Fun!" endlessly.
"Oh, give it a rest," said Applejack irritably as Big Mac and Apple Bloom shut the door behind the orange pony. Inside the rest of the Mane seven were already there inside as the Pinkies just kept bouncing about. Twilight then entered from behind a curtain set to look like a makeshift stage with Spike near her and Mario fearfully peeking out from the corner to avoid being seen.
"Welcome, Pinkies, welcome," said Twilight, "Please have a seat and make yourselves comfortable." Twilight then noticed that none of the Pinkies were paying attention to her.
"Okay, I suppose you can't be comfortable staying in one place, but have a seat anyway," said Twilight, but the Pinkies continued to ignore her, making Twilight very irritated.
"Sit down!" Twilight yelled. That got the copies to stop chanting and shouting and they all sat down with blank looks on their faces.
"Better," said Twilight before continuing, "Now, I suppose you're all wondering why I've gathered you all here today."
"For fun?" one copy asked.
"No, just the opposite actually," said Twilight. It was then Rainbow entered inside.
"Wait up, I got one more!" said Rainbow as she showed Pinkie in her fore-legs, "Found this one poking at the ground with her hoof, drawing frowny faces."
"Psssst, sweetie," Mario whispered, "that's her. That's the real Pinkie!"
"I believe you," Twilight replied in a soft tone, "but we can't let the others know that we plan to send them away."
"I think I can tag her discreetly," Mario told her. Using his love magic, he made a pink heart float above Pinkie's head. However, it could only be seen by Twilight and Mario. Twilight gave Mario a nod before addressing the blue Pegasus.
"If that's all of them," said Twilight, "Have her come sit with the others." Rainbow then just dropped Pinkie into the crowd, making her land quietly with a thud.
"Pinkies, you've been brought here to take a test," Twilight told them all.
"Awww!" the copies all chanted at once, making faces.
"Don't worry," said Twilight, "it's a simple test, about as simple as they come, and whoever passes gets to stay."
"Huh?" "yeah..." the copies all said at once as they shrugged their shoulders.
"I'll sweeten the deal," said Twilight slyly, "Whoever passes also get an entire day, sunrise to sunset with Mario!" Mario then made a strained squeak from his mouth his jaw dropped as he helped Fluttershy and Rarity from behind the curtain. Fluttershy snickered, closed his mouth, before she and Rarity smirked at him.
"CUTIE!" the copies cheered, however Twilight did take notice that their "marked" Pinkie just looked away.
"Curtain please," Twilight called out. It was then Spike opened the curtain as Rarity and Fluttershy finished painting a wall. Twilight and Mario then used their magic to pull the wall to the foreground.
"The test...will be watching paint dry!" said Twilight.
"GASP!" the copies said in shock.
"On your mark, get set, go!" said Twilight as the copies and Pinkie all leaned forward and stared at the wall.
"Ooh, this is so exciting!" said Spike as he sat on a little chair and started munching some popcorn. Mario then walked up to Twilight with a stern glare on his face. Twilight just smiled at him cutely.
"Care to explain why you did that to me?" Mario asked in a loud whisper.
"I love you," Twilight replied, batting her eyes at him.
"Good grief," Mario remarked with an eye roll and groaned inwardly.
It was a couple of hours later and none of the Pinkie's were faltering.
"Okay, maybe not that exciting," said Spike in a bored tone as he lay on his back and tipped the popcorn box to eat the last kernel, but it hit his nose instead. As the Pinkies kept starting intensely at the wall, Rainbow then looked at her fore-leg watch. The rest of the Mane seven just watched the Pinkies with interest. Then one copy started rubbing her head uneasily, but then another copy noticed a bird chirping outside the window.
"Oh, hey, look at the birdie!" said the copy. Twilight then fired a magic blast at it, making the Pinkie blow up into a balloon before becoming a wisp of pink magic that headed into the Everfree Forest and back into the mirror pool. The rest of the Pinkies kept starting.
"Watch me bounce and touch the ceiling!" said one copy to another. The copy then made a high jump into the air. Twilight then blasted both the copy in the air and the copy watching her. It was then another copy heard the sound of a frog croaking and looked outside to see the orange frog.
"Is that...is that a frog crossed with an orange?" one copy exclaimed.
"Cool," said a second copy.
"Where?" said a third copy. All three were then blasted by Twilight. Now the crowd of Pinkies was starting to dwindle and the one Pinkie Mario had marked was still there.
"Look what I can do with my hooves!" said one copy to the other. She then blew some air into one fore-hoof and caused the other fore-hoof to pop out little digits or fingers. The other copy gasped as Twilight blasted them both.
"Betcha can't make a face crazier than...this!" said another copy to another one beside her, morphing her face into what was Generation 3 Pinkie Pie. Both the copy with the altered face and the copy looking at her were blasted away. Mario cringed fearfully when he saw the copy alter her face.
"Okay...that was possibly the most creepiest thing I've ever seen," Mario muttered to himself. As time went on, Twilight was blasting one copy after another. Rarity and Fluttershy cringed as the latter eventually looked away. Mario was most impressed as Twilight breathed deeply and blew her smoking horn to cool it off.
"My girl is quite the sharp shooter," Mario remarked as he kissed her cheek, making Twilight giggle to herself. Now only two Pinkies remained. Including the one that Mario had marked with a heart. That Pinkie was very focused on the wall. The other Pinkie, who was sitting closer to the front, was looking a little worried. The others were looking worried as well as Fluttershy looked rather nervous. The Pinkie that Mario had marked remained calm and focused, but the other Pinkie was starting to sweat as the boredom was starting to get the best of her.
"C'mon, c'mon," Mario whispered, "crack already! My marefriend and I know you're the fake so give up!" It was then Rainbow found her patience hit its limit.
"Ugh, I can't take it anymore!" Rainbow said as she hovered behind both Pinkies, "Somepony's making balloon animals."
"What? Where?" the fake pinkie asked excitedly. Twilight then blasted the final copy, leaving the real Pinkie, still with the heart over her head. Rarity, Fluttershy, Mario, and Twilight all smiled. Pinkie was so focused on the wall that she was completely unaware that everypony was standing around her.
"Pinkie, you can look away now," said Twilight. Pinkie then looked around and finally realized she was the only one left.
"I passed?" she asked in surprise.
"You passed," said Twilight, "You're the only Pinkie who kept staring at the wall. Plus Mario knew you were the real deal from the start and put a little "bookmark" on you." Mario then made his horn glow pink to remove the mark above her head. Pinkie just looked at her friends, who continued to give her warm smiles.
"I had to," said Pinkie, "I just had to. I couldn't leave me friends, I just couldn't. But I guess I will have to choose between them."
"I knew you'd be up to the challenge," said Twilight. Pinkie then looked at herself.
"I'm me! I'm me! I'm me!" said Pinkie as she did a backward somersault into the air, but then felt herself again, "Or am I? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I am." Pinkie just smiled. Mario just sighed with relief.
"Well, Pinkie," said Mario, "A deal is a deal. What time should I meet you for our day of fun together?" Pinkie just looked at Mario and then broke down sobbing.
"Pinkie? What's wrong?" Mario asked concerned as the others looked worried.
"I saw what those other Pinkies did to you," Pinkie sobbed, "To think I was willing to go so far just so you would be my special somepony...that I was willing to break you just so you would be with me?! How could I be so selfish! I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."
"Pinkie, it's okay," said Mario as he held her gently and rubbed her back as she sobbed into his shoulder, "I'm alright now. I'm alright."
"He'll be fine, Pinkie," Twilight added as she put a gentle fore-hoof on her shoulder.
"Yeah, he's just gonna need therapy for a while," Rainbow added only to get dirty looks from everypony. Rainbow winced when Pinkie cried harder.
"I don't deserve your friendship, Mario," Pinkie hiccuped, "I'm just an annoying pain in the flank."
"Yes, you do and no, you're not, Pinkie," said Mario, "You're not that insensitive, annoying pony you used to be or like those kooky copies either. You're maturing and getting better at being considerate about the feelings of others. And you're learning to tone down your energy, which makes it easier to have conversations with you."
"He's right," said Rainbow, "You are getting better at toning down your over the top craziness...sometimes."
"You really think so?" Pinkies asked as she pulled away her eyes still leaking lots of tears.
"Uh-huh," they all said at once, including Spike. Pinkie sniffled a bit and smiled.
"Thanks, everypony," Pinkie replied, "and thank you, big brother." Mario smiled as he gave her a little kiss on the forehead.
"No problem, little sister," Mario replied as Pinkie just smiled despite the tears still in her eyes as they all gathered around for a group hug, making the pink pony feel much better.
"Dear Princess Celestia," Pinkie recited as she reclined from her bed and Spike wrote down what she said, "It's great to have fun, but it's even greater to have great friends. And having lots of friends means that you sometimes have to make choices as to who you'll spend your time with. But that's okay, because good friends will always give you plenty of opportunities to have fun. So even if you're missing out, it's never for long.
Respectfully yours,
Pinkie Pie."
As Pinkie recited her letter, she was seen at Sweet Apple Acres helping Applejack and her family raise the barn. Then she was with Rainbow as she swung on a rope to dive into the swimming hole while the blue Pegasus just reclined on her beach chair wearing her sunglasses. Then Pinkie, with the help of Big Mac, Mario, and Twilight, helped seal the hole to the mirror pool so nopony else could misuse or access its magic anymore. Once the letter was finished, Spike headed outside and blew some fire to send the letter off. Pinkie stepped outside to see Twilight and the others waiting for her.
"Hi, Pinkie Pie," said Twilight, "We were thinkin we should go out and celebrate."
"You up for some wheelbarrow races?" Applejack suggested.
"Or I could take everypony for a cloud ride!" Rainbow offered.
"How about I hook up some freight cars and I can take everypony on a little train ride," said Mario, "I've always wanted to do that for everypony! I even know just the right path for a nice relaxing ride!"
"I could throw a party with punch and zesty cucumber sandwiches! Ooh!" said Rarity as she clapped her fore-hooves together excitedly.
"You wanna know exactly what I feel like doing right now?" Pinkie replied as she tumbled into her back and fell asleep with her hind leg twitching involuntarily. The others just looked at her surprised.
"That looks like fun," said Fluttershy and everypony laughed.
"Oh, Pinkie," said Applejack as Twilight closed the door to let Pinkie sleep in peace.
Well...Mario then reopened it and tucked Pinkie into her bed.
"Sweet dreams, little sis," said Mario gently, "Big brother loves you."
"I love you too, big brother," Pinkie replied in her sleep as Mario smiled before heading out.
Despite the celebration with the group and telling Pinkie that he wasn't angry or upset with her, Rainbow was right about one thing about Mario.
He did have a therapy session to go to that evening...for the next month or so.
Just don't tell Pinkie!
Okay, I'm glad we got passed that episode. The next chapter might take a little longer to come. I'm still unsure of how Mario will get involved in the next episode and both Mario Star and I need a little therapy after all those Pinkies. (Shudders)
I don't expect anypony to get the "Double-Double hayburger" joke unless they live on the west coast of the U.S. and know what IN-N-Out is. It's was more of an inside joke to myself.
Peace Pony Fans...