Chapter 3: Too Many Pinkie Pies (S3:E3)
My Little Pony: Nine Elements
Book 3
Written by Brandon Nell and Blake Hawkins
Chapter 3: Too Many Pinkie Pies
Four days after Spike and the Guardians of Harmony returned to Ponyville from Canterlot after the Crystal Empire mission, Twilight was given the first of the more advanced spell lessons from Celestia.
Spike had placed a red delicious apple on a nearby cafe table and he made his way next to Twilight. She looked over the scroll she was given, then looked at the apple on the table. She took a deep breath.
“Okay,” she said softly. “My transfiguration lesson begins.” She then illuminated her horn, but, just as the magenta magic aura enveloped the apple, she felt a sudden jolt of pressure from an uninvited guest.
“Hi, Twilight, what are you doing?!” squeaked the voice happily. This caused Twilight to aim the spell at a different target.
“I was practicing a new transfiguration spell by turning an apple into an orange,” Twilight explained. “But, I was interrupted when you suddenly hugged me. What are you doing?”
“I just wanted to give a friend a hug,” Pinkie said. “Because hugs are so fun.”
“I do appreciate the gesture,” Twilight said. “But, you should be more careful with who you give your hugs to and the speed at which you do them. With my magic growing more powerful, it could have been dangerous.”
“Besides,” Spike said. “There’s a time and place for that kind of stuff. This was neither the time nor the place.”
“Sorry, Twilight,” Pinkie apologized. “Sorry, Spike. Maybe I’ll find somepony else to have fun with and I’ll be more careful with who I hug. Keep up the good work on your magic lessons. Before I go, what’d that spell hit, anyway?”
Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie looked in the direction of where the magic surge was fired. At a nearby tree, an orange with the wings of a blue jay could be seen.
“That answers that question,” Twilight said. “Luckily, Princess Celestia included a counter spell in the scroll for such a problem.”
“I’ll let you get to it,” Pinkie said before skipping away.
“See you later, Pinkie,” Spike called. He then turned his attention back to Twilight. “Ready to try again, Mom?”
“Indeed, Spike,” she answered.
As Pinkie skipped along, thinking about who to have fun with, she inadvertently bumped into Rarity.
“Oops!” Pinkie squeaked. “So sorry, Rarity! I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
“It’s alright, Pinkie,” Rarity said. “No harm done.”
“That’s good,” Pinkie smiled. “Are you in the mood to do something fun together?”
“I’m afraid that we’ll have different definitions of fun here,” Rarity said. “I’ll be designing an ensemble by myself and, nothing against you, but, your fashion sense is nil.*”
“That’s okay,” Pinkie said. “I’ll see if I can find somepony else to spend some fun time with. Can't wait to see what you make, though.” She then proceeded on her merry way.
She then met up with Rainbow, who was grunting hard at a stubborn patch of cloud that was out of place on the ground. “What’s going on, Rainbow?”
“Taking care of this cloud,” Rainbow said. “It got too heavy and if I don’t lighten it up, this area can end up foggy. As you know, pegasi can’t touch fog.”
“Hey, maybe I can help with that,” Pinkie said. “Then, after that, we can have some fun together.”
“Not for nothing, Pinkie,” Rainbow said. “But, if a pegasus can’t touch fog, what makes you think an earth pony can?”
“Who said anything about touching it?” Pinkie said before running rapidly in circles around the cloud.
This caused some of the extra mass in the foggy cloud to disperse and it drifted upwards through Rainbow. The pegasus could hardly believe what had just happened.
“Hey, how did you-” Rainbow stammered before shaking her head rapidly. “You know, I don’t think I should ask. The answer would probably confuse me more.”
“I’m honestly surprised you didn’t think of it yourself,” Pinkie said. “I mean, don’t pegasi fly around in circles really fast every year to get water to Cloudsdale?”
“Pinkie,” Rainbow said sternly. “Do you want to have fun with me or just critique how I do my responsibilities?”
“Sorry,” Pinkie said. “What do you have in mind?”
“Good question,” Rainbow said. “Tell you what. I’ll think about it and then I’ll get back to you, okay?”
“Sounds good to me,” Pinkie said.
She then hopped along to Sweet Apple Acres to see what Applejack was doing. The farm mare was hauling a cartload of hay and straw.
“Howdy, Pinkie,” Applejack said. “How’s it hangin’?”
“It’s hanging fine, AJ,” she said. “Getting ready to feed the livestock?”
“Ta quote mah brother,” Applejack said. “Eeyup.”
“Neato,” Pinkie smiled. “Want to do something fun after that?”
“Ah’d like ta, Pinkie,” Applejack said. “But, ah got plenty o’ chores ta do. Openin’ n’ closin’ the gate ta the pig pen, squawkin’ like a chicken, danglin’ food over the pig pen, the list goes on.**”
“That is a lot to do,” Pinkie said. “Hopefully you’ll be able to have some fun after all of that. In the meantime, I’m going to see what Fluttershy’s up to. Keep up the good work with all of that.” She dashed off.
With the timid pegasus, she and some of her animal friends are having a picnic. She wasn’t expecting Pinkie to come, much less so fast. The pink mare, getting tired from running from one mare to another, took deep inhales.
“Hey, Fluttershy,” Pinkie gasped. “Are you… busy… or having fun…?”
“Uh… not at the moment,” Fluttershy said.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Pinkie swooned. “Because looking for somepony to have fun with is exhausting…” The pink mare collapsed backwards from exhaustion.
The pink party pony eventually came to and found herself resting on a sofa while butterflies gently fluttered all around her. One even landed on her nose, tickling it slightly.
“Hello, little fella,” Pinkie giggled. “All of you little fellas.”
“Feeling better, Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked.
“Loads better,” Pinkie smiled. “Thanks, Fluttershy. Your butterfly therapy sessions really do a world of good.”
“Unfortunately, there’s some ponies who get scared looking at the butterfly faces sometimes,” Fluttershy lamented.***
“I guess it’s all in the eye of the pony looking at the butterfly,” Pinkie said. “These butterflies look pretty cute to me. Of course, I mostly look at the wings.”
“They are nice indeed,” Fluttershy remarked.
At that moment, Rainbow walked up to Pinkie. She had finished the rest of her cloudwork for the day.
“Hey, Pinkie,” she smiled. “I’ve been looking for you. I thought of something we could do to hang out.”
“What is it?!” Pinkie asked eagerly.
“I thought we could hit the swimming hole with that old wooden swing hanging on the tree tomorrow,” Rainbow said. “We could swim and catch a few rays there.”
“Ah also thought o’ somethin’ we could do,” Applejack said.
“You do?” Pinkie asked eagerly. “What is it?”
“Well,” Applejack said. “‘Member that new barn we put up after… the Smarty Pants incident?”
“Oh, yeah,” Pinkie said. “So, what about it?”
“Me n’ mah family’ll be renovatin’ it from top ta bottom,” Applejack said. “It may not fit yer definition o’ fun, but, it’s somethin’ we can do tagether.”
“That does sound like fun, though,” Pinkie smiled. “And I’m glad you thought of me, AJ. I used to live on a rock farm.”
“Quick question, though,” Fluttershy said, considering. “Which one do you want to spend time with?”
“I can do both, can’t I?” Pinkie said. “It’s not like Applejack’s barn renovations are happening the same day as my time with Rainbow or anything.”
“Actually,” Applejack said. “It’s tamorrah.”
“Hey,” Rainbow said in a good-natured way. “It’s no biggie. Whichever you choose is okay with me, Pinkie. I mean, can you imagine a world where Twilight alone got two tickets to the gala and all of us tried making her choose which of us got the extra ticket while she’s trying to get something to eat? That’d make us like the worst friends ever.****”
“Where would ya get a silly idea like that?” Applejack asked. “We all helped beat Nightmare Moon. It’d be mighty odd if only Twilight got two tickets, seein’ as she couldn’ta done it without us.”
But, Pinkie wasn’t fully listening. She was too distraught with the idea of having to choose between two of her closest friends. “This is a problem…” she said.
“Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked. “Are you alright? Do you need more time with the butterflies?”
“I need to think this over!” Pinkie said suddenly and she took off in a blur of pink.
The next day, Twilight was practicing the spell again.
“Alright,” Twilight said, taking a deep breath. “Let’s try this again.”
Suddenly, there was a pink blur. Twilight, seeing this, canceled out her magic before she could launch another accidental magic surge.
“Pinkie?” Spike asked. “What are you up to this time?”
“Don't mind me,” Pinkie said. “I'm just timing myself to see how fast I can go back and forth between the swimming hole and Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Why?” Twilight asked. “Is it for a personal project or something?”
"I'm trying to see if I can get the time down so that I can be at the swimming hole when Rainbow jumps off the swing, make it to Sweet Apple Acres to see the renovations start, and then make it back to the swimming hole in time for Rainbow to land,” Pinkie explained. “That way, I won't be missing too much of anything either way."
“Pinkie,” Spike said. “We know that you run pretty fast, but, you don’t exactly have Rainbow’s speed. It’s cool that you want to spend time with both of your friends, but, it would be safer for your physical and mental health to choose one pony to hang out with. I’m sure whoever you choose, the other pony will understand.”
“But, what if they do extra favors for me to make me choose them?!” Pinkie asked.
“Why would they do that?” Spike asked. “These are your friends we’re talking about, not a bunch of moochers.”
“Pinkie,” Twilight said. “Your friends will always give you an opportunity to have fun. To even think about being with both of them without having to choose, you would have to be in two places at once. I’m not using the time travel spell again.”
That caught Pinkie’s attention. “That’s it!” Pinkie said happily. “Thanks, Twilight! Thanks, Spike! You two are geniuses!” She dashed off.
“Where do you think she’s off to?” Spike asked.
“Knowing Pinkie,” Twilight answered. “I can only imagine.”
Pinkie was making her way through the Everfree Forest.
“Seems like hardly anypony has been here in ages,” Pinkie said to herself. “I hardly think Zecora’s been around here. I hope I’m remembering Granny Pie’s rhymes correctly. ‘Where the brambles are thickest, there you will find a pond beyond the most twisted of vines.’ So, it looks like I’m in the right place.” Pinkie looked around noticing the thick vines and brambles. Suddenly, as she reached a clearing, she tumbled down a deep hole. “Oof!” She got up, dusting herself off. She then looked around and saw the very thing she was searching for. “The Mirror Pool!” Her voice echoed off of the walls of the hole. “Boy, I really need to stop talking to myself… but, if this works right, then I’ll probably still be talking to myself.” The party pony stepped up to the edge of the pool and gazed into its reflective surface. “And into her own reflection she shared, yearning for one whose reflection she shared, and solemnly sweared not to be scared of the prospect of being doubly-mared!” And with that, she slowly stepped into the pool until her entire body was submerged. She stepped out of the pool, followed by an exact duplicate of herself. “It worked!” she cheered.
“Hey, this place looks fun,” the Pinkie duplicate said happily. “Is there more fun?”
“I know where there’s lots of fun, me,” Pinkie said, trying to get her duplicate’s attention. “I’ll go hang out with Rainbow while you go to Sweet Apple Acres and help with the renovations.”
“I don’t know where that is,” the duplicate said without dropping her happy expression.
“That’s easy,” Pinkie said, pointing in the direction of the barn. “It’s that-a-way. You’ll know when you find it when you see a lot of apple trees and/or an earth pony mare with an orange coat, a blonde mane and tail, and a brown cowpony hat.”
“What do apple trees look like?” the duplicate asked, still smiling.
“Oh, hang on,” Pinkie said, drawing on the ground with her hoof. “Something like this, only this part is green, this part is brown, and these parts are red. Okie dokie?” The duplicate nodded, making the sound of a rattle. “Great! Now go out there and have fun! Make sure to tell me all about it when they’re done.”
The clone Pinkie walked along, looking for Sweet Apple Acres, not recognizing the apple trees right in front of her. She saw Ash pulling a cart. “Excuse me,” she said.
“Oh, hey, Pinkie,” Ash said. “What do you need?”
“Where can I find apple trees?” the clone asked without losing her smile.
Ash was confused. “Uh, you’re looking at quite a few right now,” he said. “You see them pretty much everyday.”
“Yippee!” the clone cheered. “I made it to Sweet Apple Acres!” She then looked over Ash. “Though, you don’t look anything like that mare that I told me about.”
Ash grew more confused. “Pinkie, I’m Ash, a calf bull. You should know that by now.”
“I should?” the Pinkie clone asked, blinking obliviously.
Ash could tell that “Pinkie” was being pretty dense. “Look, how about I lead you to Applejack?”
“Gee, thanks,” the Pinkie clone said. “You’re the bestest calf bull ever!”
They hadn’t gotten far when Fluttershy spotted the clone.
“Oh, hello, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said politely. “You’re looking much better.”
The Pinkie clone finally dropped her smile as she struggled to recognize Fluttershy. “Hi… uh…”
“Fluttershy,” Ash whispered to the clone.
“I knew that,” the clone said. “So, what are you doing?”
“Well, I decided to have a tea party,” Fluttershy said. “You can join if you want.”
“A tea party?” The clone said enthusiastically. “That sounds like fun! Oh, but, what about Applejohn? Ash was supposed to be leading me to her.”
“Applejack,” Ash corrected.
“And her, too,” the clone said, growing distressed. “Oh, what to choose, what to choose? Can’t decide… can’t breathe… walls closing in!”
Fluttershy and Ash were perplexed.
“We’re outside…” Fluttershy said gently.
“Pinkie” shrieked and dashed off towards the real Pinkie, leaving the two to stare at each other in bewilderment.
“I know the bar’s set pretty high,” Ash said. “But, was Pinkie acting weirder than usual?”
“Um,” Fluttershy replied. “A little. She didn’t seem to remember names too well.”
Meanwhile, the real Pinkie made her way to the swimming hole and found Rainbow in a foldable chair, reading a Daring Do book. The chillaxing pegasus looked up from her page section to see her friend.
“Hey, Pinkie,” Rainbow smiled. “Glad you could make it.”
“Reading and swimming?” Pinkie said. “That could lead to you drowning because the book fell in your mouth.”
“I’m not going to swallow my book,” Rainbow said. “How would I even fit the whole thing in my mouth? And on top of that, I’m not even going to hit the water. Cloudwork was tougher than usual today, so today’s all about chilling out at a calm locale.”
“So, I came here for nothing?” Pinkie said, slightly disappointed.
“No way,” Rainbow said. “I like having you around. You can still swim if you want. You don’t even have to worry about being quiet since that’s a tall order for you anyway. You’d be amazed how much I tune out when reading.”
“Oh, good,” Pinkie smiled. “This is great news. And you chose a great locale to hang out in.” Pinkie then made her way onto the swing and swung towards the lake. “Whee~!” She splashed in. She came back up. “The water’s perfect.”
“Good to hear,” Rainbow said while reading. “You know, I wasn’t sure if you’d help Applejack with her renovations since it doesn’t really fit your definition of fun.”
“It did a little bit,” Pinkie said. “But, that’s not to say that she isn’t getting the help with her renovations. Besides, I am there.” She chuckled coyly to herself at this remark.
Rainbow rolled her eyes in amusement before saying, “Sure. Next, you’ll be saying that Twilight’ll turn Fluttershy into a thestral after pressuring her to use the Stare so she can use a spell to starve a bunch of living creatures.*****”
“No, really,” Pinkie said. “You see, there’s this legend that my Granny Pie told me of a magical pond that makes duplicates of whoever looks into it. It actually works! So I sent that duplicate to help Applejack while I came to hang out with you here.”
Rainbow was less amused. “Look, Pinkie, I know that I’m not the sharpest knife, but, I wasn’t born yesterday. You don’t have to make stuff up.”
“But, I’m not~” Pinkie said earnestly. “Why would you think I am?”
“Well, there’s the fact that your version of how Equestria was made has Songbird Serenade and ogres in it,” Rainbow said flatly.
“But, I’m really serious about this,” Pinkie said. She then heard a rustling in a nearby bush. Pinkie turned her attention to see her duplicate looking nervously. “Oh, but, could you give me a second? Looks like I need to have a discussion with myself. Please excuse me.” She swam out to meet her duplicate. Rainbow briefly saw the duplicate.
“And me,” the duplicate said, leading the original Pinkie to an out of the way spot to chat.
“Did I hit my head or something?” Rainbow asked herself.
With Pinkie and the duplicate, the original Pinkie was curious. “So, how were the renovations?”
“I didn’t get to them,” the clone said.
“What?” Pinkie asked. “What happened?”
“A pony with wings said she was throwing a tea party before I even got to Applejo,” the clone explained.
“Applejack,” Pinkie corrected. “And it sounds like Fluttershy is the one having the tea party. I can see why now, though.”
“I couldn’t choose between them!” the clone said.
“Don’t worry,” Pinkie said, comforting the clone. “I know just the answer we need. I should’ve seen this coming. I have so many friends that something like this was bound to come up eventually. Two Pinkies won’t be enough.”
So, the two Pinkies returned to the Mirror Pool. The original had taught the clone the rhyming incantation she was to say.
“And solemnly sweared not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly-mared!” The two Pinkies said in unison. The reflections of the pool materialized into two new Pinkies.
“Ooh!” the first clone said. “Double usses!”
“Only now,” Pinkie said. “It’s quadruple usses. Now, neither of us has to worry about missing any fun.” The two new clones heard the last word and twitched in excitement.
“Did you say, ‘fun?!’” the second clone asked eagerly.
“I love fun!” the third clone bounced. “Where’s the fun?”
“Oh, you just need to—” the original started before the two new clones and the first original clone turned to the pool.
“Solemnly sweared, not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly-mared,” they all said in unison. All three of them pulled out their duplicates. For those keeping track, that’s seven Pinkies in total counting the original.
“Okay, that’s enough,” the original Pinkie said before the clones from the second onwards kept making more. Even the first clone grew a bit nervous.
“Not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly-mared,” the five said. Five more clones emerged from the pool, making twelve Pinkies in total.
The original Pinkie grew frantic. “Stop!” she said, but, aside from the first one, the clones refused to obey.
“Oh, dear,” the first clone said nervously. “If this keeps up, all of Ponyville will be flooded with Pinkies!”
The newer clones kept chanting “Fun!” repeatedly. The original Pinkie then rolled her eyes and pulled a metal whistle from her mane. She blew into it and the sound echoed off the walls of the hole. This immediately caught the clones’ attention. “Fun!” one said.
“Okay, Pinkies,” Original Pinkie said. “If we all want to go out to Ponyville and have some fun, we’re going to have to be good Pinkies to our friends.” Against her better judgment, she led the clones to town.
The Pinkie clones followed eagerly. Although, the first clone seemed hesitant. Once they were out of the forest, the original stopped. “Stop!” she said.
The clones stopped to listen to their leader.
“Between the bunch of us, we should have every nook and cranny of Ponyville covered,” she said. “However, I noticed that most of you don’t have the knowledge I have, so, I’m going to give you a pop quiz. Anypony who answers wrong goes back to the Mirror Pool. Got it?”
“Okie-dokie-loki,” the Pinkie clones, minus the first clone, chimed in.
I have a bad feeling about this, the first Pinkie clone thought to herself.
The original Pinkie made sure to educate the clones on Rainbow, Applejack, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Spike as well as the general layout of Ponyville.
“Excellent work, Pinkies,” the original Pinkie smiled. “You’re all certified Pinkie Pies. Now, all of you go. Fan out to your assigned positions and observe everything fun that occurs, then report it back to me as soon as possible. Ready, set, go!"
The Pinkies set off to their assigned positions in a rush without hesitation. The first clone dawdled slowly. It was at that point that the original Pinkie came to a horrific realization.
“Oh, no,” she said as an aside. Suddenly, one of Celestia’s cloned pegasus guards landed beside her with a chariot containing Vanguard and one of the cloned unicorn guards. The knicks and scratches on the pegasus’ armor vaguely made out 161 while the ones on the unicorn vaguely made out 42.
“The resurgence happened here,” the unicorn guard said to the others.
“R-resurgence?” Pinkie asked nervously.
“The Mirror Pool’s been used even though it’s supposed to be sealed off,” Vanguard explained.
“I didn’t have any trouble accessing it,” Pinkie said. “I fell through like one of those branch-covered hole traps.”
“Well,” the unicorn said. “That’s what we get for having the less competent clones seal it off.”
“No argument, Javelin,” Vanguard said before turning to Pinkie. “How many clones did you make?”
“Uh…” Pinkie began nervously. “It started as one, then three, then six, then ten, then twenty, so… twenty?”
“Were any of them clones of a clone?” Javelin asked.
“A lot of them were,” Pinkie admitted.
“This is a bad situation,” Vanguard said. “Clones tend to be intellectually inferior to their genetic templates. This is also the case with clones of clones.”
Little did they realize that the original clone was also listening in.
“With each successive generation,” Javelin said. “The personalities of clones boil down to one character trait and nothing else.”
“So,” Pinkie said. “If they just follow my love of fun, that’s all they’ll know?”
“Worse,” the pegasus said. “The idea of fun you have becomes so diluted, they look for it in literally everything, causing damage without any regard for others.”
Pinkie gasped at this. “Oh, no… what have I done?!”
The clones rapidly descended on Ponyville, hellbent on seeking out “fun” no matter what.
The first of the victims was an unsuspecting Rainbow. As she got to the end of her book, one of the Pinkies tickled Rainbow’s muzzle with her tail.
Rainbow sneezed and saw all the clones. “What the Tartarus?!”
The Pinkie clones were all over the place. Some were swimming in the pond, others were playing on the shore. All repeatedly chanting “Fun!”
“I guess Pinkie was serious about that Mirror Pool thing…” she muttered to herself.
The real Pinkie was on her way that very moment.
“Rainbow, you have to help me-!” Pinkie called. One look showed she was too late as some clones crushed Rainbow’s chair by jumping on it.
“Hey!” Rainbow yelled and growled as she tried fighting them off with her parasol. “No more clones! I can’t take it!” But, her words fell on deaf ears.
“Oh, no…” the original Pinkie said sadly. She then thought of Applejack. “The renovations!” She then bolted off to Sweet Apple Acres.
At Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack, Big McIntosh, Caramel, and some visiting members of the Apple Family were raising a barn wall for the new addition with pulleys.
“Good work, y’all,” Applejack cheered.
“You too, honeycrisp,” Caramel complimented. “But, it’s not over yet.”
“Of course it’s not over,” one of the Pinkie clones said excitedly. “Because the fun is just beginning!”
They all saw an overwhelming number of Pinkies.
“What in the name o’ Gene Trotry****** is goin’ on here?!” Applejack exclaimed.
The clones simply stampeded while chanting “Fun!” over and over again.
“Pinkie!” Caramel tried to call. “How’d you get over there? And over there, and over there, and- everywhere?!”
The ropes were no longer gripped, causing the wall to fall.
“Pinkies!” Applejack yelled. “Y’all get out o' here now!”
The clones didn’t listen. They continued to make a mess of things. The original Pinkie came to see that she was already too late.
Applejack immediately lost patience. “If Ah see ‘nother Pinkie causin’ trouble ‘round here, ah can’t be held be ‘sponsible fer what ah do!”
The clones ignored her and headed off.
“Oh, no,” the original Pinkie said. “I’m really causing trouble.”
The out of control Pinkies became a huge problem. So huge, in fact, that the citizens turned to Mayor Mare.
“Everypony,” Mayor Mare said, trying to calm the crowd. “I know this is a stressful situation, but, you all must calm down!”
“Calm down?!” Rarity said. “A hurricane of Pinkie Pies came storming through my boutique! The chaos they caused could rival Discord’s!”
“And they overcrowded my tea party,” Fluttershy said. “I didn’t have enough food for the critters’ hungry tummies.”
“They’re destroying the town!” the voice of Ice Cube said in the crowd. “Buck those Pinkie Pies!”
"Not now, Ice Cube," said a disgruntled Rainbowshine.
“Everypony, please!” Mayor Mare said. “Getting angry about all of these clones is not going to solve anything! As you’ve all said, they look exactly alike, making it impossible to tell who’s who or who did what. Asking them which is real wouldn’t accomplish anything, either.”
Twilight raised her hoof politely. “Pardon me, Mayor. The Golden Oak Library has a book about all sorts of magical locations in Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. If I can look through that, I’m certain I can find a solution as to how to take the Pinkie clones.”
“Very well,” Mayor Mare said. “Go look posthaste.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Twilight said as she ran to the Golden Oak Library.
There, she and Spike searched through the aforementioned book. It was a collection of Starswirl the Bearded's many advanced studies. Everything he ever felt good enough to write down was in that very book.
“There it is,” Spike said, pointing to a particular page. “Rainbow said Pinkie called it the Mirror Pool.”
“Thank you, my son,” Twilight said. Twilight and Spike read through the passage. “It says here that the Mirror Pool was used to make copies of the Royal Guards before the advent of alchemy. It copies ponies down to the smallest detail excluding personal memories, but, with each copy, a part of the personality is lost.”
“That explains why the clones of the royal guards are so incompetent,” Spike added. “And why these Pinkie Pies are so one-note. But, that doesn’t really tell us how to solve the problem.”
Twilight looked through the book. She then gasped. “This page describes a spell that I can use to send the clones back to where they came from!”
“I’m guessing there’s a catch,” Spike said.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Twilight said. “The spell can’t distinguish the clones from the original. If I use it on the original Pinkie by mistake, it won’t send her to the Mirror Pool, but, it could do something far worse. The notes don’t mention what it is because Starswirl never tested the spell.”
“What?!” Spike said. “If he never tested it, why’d he even write about it?!*******”
“I don’t know,” Twilight said. “It does give ponies studying magic more of a challenge, that’s for sure.”
“You’d think the pony that taught Celestia everything she knows about magic would be smart enough to test something like that so those learning it don’t botch it!” Spike ranted.********
“This does make the risk of sending the Pinkie clones back even more complicated,” Twilight said. “And more importantly, we need to find some way to distinguish the real Pinkie from the others.”
“Oh, like that’ll be easy,” Spike said sarcastically.
“There must be a way,” Twilight said. “If the clones aren’t as intelligent as the original, there has to be things that the real Pinkie would know that the clones don’t.”
“But, if we ask them all one at a time,” Spike said. “That’ll take too long.” He then gestured to a window where the clones were stampeding. “And it’s clear Ponyville doesn’t have that kind of time.”
“So,” Twilight said. “We’ll have to figure out a way to test them while they’re together. But, how?”
Meanwhile, the original Pinkie saw the clones run rampant across the town.
“Oh, this is all my fault,” she said sadly. “If I had just chosen who I wanted to spend time with, none of this would be happening. Everypony will be sick of me and I’ll have to move away. But, now, even I can’t tell who’s who anymore. Some Guardian of Harmony I turned out to be.”
The first clone was also feeling low. As she walked sadly along, she saw some baker ponies, who weren’t Mr. and Mrs. Cake, hauling a boxful of cake decorations. She secretly took some that looked like wings and left Ponyville.
“I’m not going to be involved in this chaos anymore,” she said sadly before heading off. “I don’t want to live a life to just be somepony else’s reflection. I should live my own life and discover my own meaning of things. This clone problem is bad enough without me. I’ll leave them with one less Pinkie Pie to worry about.”
By now, Ponyville had begun to resemble a ghost town more than anything. Doors had been locked tight and windows had been shut. None dared venture outside while the Pinkie Pies ran amok. Yet, Twilight and Spike were trying to find the real Pinkie. Several minutes went by and they had nothing to show for it.
“Mom,” Spike said. “I’m starting to think that this is completely pointless.”
“We can’t give up, Spike,” Twilight said. “After all, you never gave up on me during the Smarty Pants incident.”
“It’s true,” the real Pinkie said from afar. “And your friends really learned an important lesson after that.”
This caught Spike’s attention as he turned to see the original Pinkie, who, unlike the others, wasn’t bouncy and hyperactive. “Wait,” Spike said. “That one’s not acting like the others. Maybe she’s the real one.”
Twilight shook her head. "Or it could just be a defective clone. If you keep making copies, sooner or later one is bound to end up being bad." And she also added. "It could also be that she's one of the earlier clones, and she's just acting this way to throw us off. The real Pinkie Pie rarely sits still for long."
“I wouldn’t be too sure,” Spike said. “She agreed with you when you mentioned the Smarty Pants incident. That happened before all of this. So, none of the clones could possibly remember that and I highly doubt the real one would bring it up to the clones.”*********
Twilight considered this. “By Celestia, you're right, Spike! Though, how can we be completely sure?”
“I know this’ll probably be pointless,” Spike said. “But, I’m going to ask her if she’s the real Pinkie.”
“You can try,” Twilight said.
Spike walked up to the sad Pinkie. “Are you the real Pinkie? You’re not acting like the others.”
“I’m too sad to act like the others,” Pinkie said sadly. “And at this point, I don’t know if I am the real Pinkie or not. I could be the real Pinkie who feels too guilty for putting so much misery on her friends and home, or I could just be a defective clone acting like I did when I thought everypony was ignoring my parties because they didn’t like me.”
Twilight heard this and was beginning to piece together that this might be the real Pinkie. “Could you say that again?”
“Which part,” Pinkie asked. “The ‘guilty I put my friends in misery’ part or the ‘acting like I did when I thought everypony was ignoring my parties because they didn’t like me’ part?”
“You’re proving you are the real Pinkie!” Twilight said. “Only the real Pinkie would remember that time she thought we didn’t like her. Unless she told one of the smarter clones about it, which isn’t likely.”
“I would have remembered if I did teach them that,” Pinkie said. “But, how are we going to prove that to the whole town?”
“Well,” Spike said. “We can ask something only the real Pinkie would know. But, if we do it one at a time, the original could get mixed with the clones again.”
“That would be confusing,” Pinkie said. “But, if you really are looking for the real Pinkie, the real Pinkie would do just about anything to make sure her friends were really happy again. Like a test on the most boring thing imaginable.”
That gave Twilight an idea.
“That’s it!” Twilight said. “I’ll have to ask Applejack to round up all of the Pinkies and Mayor Mare for permission to use Town Hall. Come on, Spike. I have a plan!” Spike climbed onto her back before she addressed Pinkie. “If you see the other Pinkies, tell them to gather inside Town Hall and say that it’s a party.” She then dashed off.
Pinkie realized that this meant Twilight was setting up a test to get rid of the clones. “That’s brilliant! And if I pass, I can be with my friends again!” She then gasped. “But, what if I don’t pass? I could be separated from my friends forever! Or worse!” She banged her head against the table. “Stupid magic mirror water! Why did I ever think this was a good idea?!”
Soon, Applejack, Big McIntosh, and Caramel were rounding up all of the Pinkie clones and corralling them inside Town Hall.
“I doubt I’ll be able to forget this,” Caramel said.
“Believe me, hon,” Applejack said. “Ah doubt any o’ us’ll forget this.”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed.
Soon, the Town Hall was filled with Pinkies. The other Guardians, sans the original Pinkie and Rainbow, were standing on the stage.
“Welcome, Pinkies,” Twilight said, speaking into a microphone. “Please have a seat and make yourselves comfortable.”
At that moment, Rainbow came in with a rather downtrodden Pinkie. “I got one more, Twilight. I found this one drawing frowny faces on the ground. She wasn’t bouncy or hyper.”
“Have her sit with the others, please,” Twilight said. “We all know how foolish it is to make assumptions.”
Rainbow set the original Pinkie in an open spot among the others.
“Are you sure about this?” Rainbow asked. “I think it’s a safe bet she’s the real one. Uncertainty and untested spells don’t mix.”
“We can’t take any chances,” Twilight said. She then spoke into the microphone. “Now, Pinkies, you have all been brought in here to take a test. Don’t worry, it’s not the type that needs pencils or paper.”
“So,” said one of the Pinkie clones. “What kind of test is it? More importantly, what’s a test?”
“That one’s definitely a clone,” Rainbow said to Applejack, who nodded in agreement.
“Curtain, please,” Twilight said to Spike.
Spike tugged on the pulley rope to unfurl the stage curtains. This revealed a backstage with Rarity and Fluttershy applying a fresh thick coat of purplish-blue paint to a propped-up wall.
“Thank you,” Twilight said before turning her attention to the Pinkies. “The test will be watching paint dry!” The Pinkies all groaned before Twilight warned, "If any of you look away for any reason, you have exactly one minute to stop what you're doing and look back at the wall. If you're still looking away after the minute is up, you'll be blasted. Do I make myself clear?"
The Pinkies reluctantly agreed.
“Okay,” Twilight said. “Ready… go!”
The Pinkies focused their attention on the wall prop and the paint drying upon it.
“This should be interesting,” Spike said.
About 5 minutes passed by and the Pinkies were still staring at the wall. Some of them sweated, others fidgeted from sitting in one place for so long.
“This is lasting longer than I thought it would,” Rainbow said. “Kind of impressive considering Pinkie’s usual attention span.”
“But, who knows how long it’ll last?” Applejack asked.
At last, some of the Pinkies caved into their boredom.
“Oh, hey, look at the birdie!” one Pinkie clone said, looking out of a nearby window.
Several other Pinkie clones looked as well, forgetting Twilight’s warning.
“Some of them aren’t looking back at the wall,” Spike pointed out.
After a full minute the Pinkies that diverted their attention hadn’t looked back. Twilight used that opportunity to blast the distracted Pinkies. Though the spell was previously untested, Twilight’s growing skills made the spell succeed. The blasted clones inflated like balloons before turning into wisps of magic that floated away.
“It worked,” Spike smiled.
Despite the display, other Pinkies continued to get distracted, look away, and do various things as well. This caused Twilight to use the spell to send the distracted clones away if they didn’t look back within a minute. Repeated use of the spell meant she had to stop occasionally to cool her horn down. Soon, it was down to two Pinkies. One was staring diligently at the wall while the other sweated nervously as she looked upon it.
Rainbow, having lost her patience, groaned at how long it was taking.
“I can’t take it anymore!” Rainbow growled. Then, pointing in a different direction, she said. “Somepony’s making balloon animals!”
One of the Pinkies fell for the distraction.
“What? Where?” she said, looking away from the wall. She then stood up, looking around for a nonexistent pony making imaginary balloon animals. All too soon, her window of opportunity expired and she was blasted.
“Okay, Pinkie,” Spike said, walking up to the one true Pinkie. “You can look away now. The test is over.”
“But,” Pinkie said. “What if I’m not the original Pinkie?”
“Well, do you remember when you taught us to giggle at the ghosties?” Spike asked. “And hypocritically hid in fear from Zecora just because she was different from you even though you welcomed me just fine despite the fact that I’m a dragon?”
“Of course I do,” Pinkie said. “You taught me and my friends a lot that day and now Zecora’s one of my bestest friends.”
“Then, you are the real Pinkie,” Spike said. “That proves it. The clones didn’t exist until today, making it impossible for them to have such memories unless you told them about it, which I highly doubt you’d be so open about with clones who just came into existence.”
“And on top of that,” Twilight said. “You were the only one who focused on the wall while all of the others got distracted.”
“I had to,” Pinkie said, wiping tears of joy from her eyes. “I couldn’t leave my friends… but, after today… I am going to have to choose who I’ll spend my time with. That’s very difficult for me. That’s why I made those clones, so I wouldn’t have to choose.”
“Well, we didn’t know choosing between friends was so hard for you,” Rainbow said. “If you had so much trouble choosing, you could’ve just asked one of us to reschedule our plans to spend time together.”
“I think I will try working on that,” Pinkie said. “But, first, the entrance to the Mirror Pool needs to be properly sealed off.”
“Since you used it,” Twilight said. “You would know where it is.”
“Right,” Pinkie said. “Are Vanguard, Javelin, and that pegasus guard still here?”
“Right behind you,” Vanguard’s voice said.
“And my name is Maelstrom,” the Pegasus guard said.
“Oh, good,” Pinkie smiled. “Not just because I now know your name, but, also good that you guys are still here. We could use your strength. Follow me.”
Pinkie led them to the entrance to the Mirror Pool.
“There it is,” Javelin said, careful not to step inside. “Vanguard, move that boulder over the entrance.”
“Right,” Vanguard said, pushing the boulder that Javelin pointed at. Despite being roughly the same size as most of the guards, he proved to be quite strong as he managed to move the boulder, which was at least twice as big as himself. Though, from the grunts he made, it still took a bit of effort.
Soon, with the boulder, the entrance to the Mirror Pool was properly sealed off by Javelin.
“There,” Javelin said. “The boulder’s been enchanted with a spell to make whoever touches it forget what they were doing. I’m the only one capable of disabling it.”
“Thank you, sirs,” Pinkie saluted.
“We better report back to Canterlot,” Maelstrom said.
“Right,” Vanguard said. “Take care, all.”
After the guards left, repairs to Ponyville began. Once citizens of Ponyville saw that there was only one Pinkie who was helping to repair Ponyville, they decided to come out of their homes and pitch in.
“Spike,” Pinkie said. “Can you help me write a friendship lesson?”
“Of course, Pinkie,” Spike smiled. He readied a scroll and a quill. “Okay, go for it.”
And, after going to her room at Sugarcube Corner, this was the lesson Spike wrote:
“Dear Princess Celestia,
It’s great to have fun, but, it’s even better to have great friends. Having a lot of friends means that you sometimes have to make choices as to who you’ll spend time with, especially if they both have cool plans. But, that’s okay. Good friends will always give you a lot of opportunities to hang out, even if it means having to reschedule something. So, even if you’re ‘missing out,’ it’s never for long.
Respectfully yours,
The one and only Pinkie Pie”
After finishing the letter, Spike rolled it up and sent it away.
“Thanks, Spike,” Pinkie smiled. She then led him downstairs, where the other Guardians were.
“Hi, Pinkie,” Twilight said. “Now that everything in Ponyville is back in order, we were thinking we should celebrate. So, do you have some ideas on what you’d like to do?”
“After today’s experience,” Pinkie said. “I just want to rest. I didn’t realize how annoying I was.”
“Pinkie,” Fluttershy said. “We don’t think you’re annoying. A lot of the clones had a one-track mind, while you’re multifaceted.”
“And while you can be a bit much sometimes,” Rainbow said before Applejack nudged her. “Oof! What I mean is that you’re an amazing friend with some things to work out. But, hey, who doesn’t?”
“Yeah,” Applejack said. “Nopony’s perfect.”
“Anypony who says otherwise is living a lie,” Rarity said.
Pinkie smiled at this. “Thanks, everypony,” she said. “I knew I could count on all of you.” And shortly afterwards, she collapsed on the floor and fell asleep.
“That looks like my kind of fun,” Fluttershy said softly. “Though, we should probably take her back up to her room so she can be comfy.”
Spike started helping lift Pinkie, struggling to do so. “She’s a lot heavier than she looks,” Spike said softly. “Though, considering her eating habits, I’m not surprised.”
“Not that we don’t appreciate yer efforts, Spike,” Applejack said. “But, why don’t ya let one o’ us help ya?”
“That’d be appreciated, thanks,” Spike said.
So, Applejack and Spike both helped to get the slumbering pink pony up to her bedroom, careful not to wake her up. After placing Pinkie on her bed, Spike pushed his spine back into alignment.
“How ‘bout we get ya a warm compressor fer yer back,” Applejack asked.
“Sure, thanks,” Spike said.
Applejack allowed Spike onto her back and she carefully walked him back downstairs to meet with the others, leaving their sleeping friend.
What happened to the clone that got away, you ask? That’s a story for another day.
End of chapter.
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Nice way how they handled the clones. And yes that clone that got away we would be seeing her again a few seasons later
11891845
I plan on giving that clone her own identity.
Maybe it is a reference to Gene Autry, the musician?
11891863
I’ll check with my co-writer.
That was a good chapter even if the episode of it and all wasn't one of my favorites!
Um... I don't have any ideas for the "One Bad Apple" episode.
11891871
That’s okay. We’re covered there.
11891850
Maybe since she decided to be her own being, she could get her own cutie mark. I can imagine her being an author of mystery novels, and her cutie mark could be a balloon themed magnifying glass with a pencil for the handle. (BTW, this is just an idea)
11891898
I actually plan on her becoming a non-anthro version of this: images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/fa0adbc3-b094-4f4e-bcc5-2380d6984558/d6rs7hf-6bc6e6e3-9917-4cf3-bfb6-19b2d19ea937.png/v1/fit/w_828,h_1098/i_m_a_little_angel__by_aleximusprime_d6rs7hf-414w-2x.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTM1OSIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ZhMGFkYmMzLWIwOTQtNGY0ZS1iY2M1LTIzODBkNjk4NDU1OFwvZDZyczdoZi02YmM2ZTZlMy05OTE3LTRjZjMtYmZiNi0xOWIyZDE5ZWE5MzcucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEwMjQifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.5TX6Y1hV9xHrSgiGe7LIaO8fsPaYe__ywAQQ3sgaLwA
After this, Pinkie wouldn't try to clone herself again. One is enough for anyone to deal with.
Pretty good take.
Nice touch with the guards being added in and taking precaution to ensure another clone incident doesn't happen again.
Interesting tease with the idea of having an episode on the Pinkie clone that got away (given The Saddle Row Review in canon implies there's at least one Pinkie clone still running around.
Next week: The CMC face trouble as Apple Bloom's cousin Babs Seed comes to visit for the week and ends up bullying them.
Wonder is Babs may also try to bully Spike (since he hangs out with the CMC more often in this version) and Spike trying to tell Twilight and/or Rarity about Babs' bullying?
11891914
Yeah.
11891917
Thanks.
11891919
I’m actually thinking Babs is initially intimidated by Spike until seeing his gentle side.
The title got cut off on the featured page so I thought the it was gonna be My Little Pony: Nine Eleven
11891914
You say that now, but Cheese Sandwich is just over a year away. He is basically just a male Pinkie. Of course, he's only going to be around A FEW times until the post-main series seasons. And then, after Pinkie and Cheese are married for a few years, they ARE going to have kids, so that's going to be a heavily downplayed version of this. Though, by then, Ponyville (and Equestria in general) is going to be much better prepared for it anyway.
11891863
That is extremely possible. Applejack seems to be the type to like the sort of old-school Western hero that Gene Autry or Roy Rogers (or their Equestrian counterparts at any rate) would be.
Hey there. Thanks immensely for getting the next chapter to this up. Definitely liked the work going into this version of "Too Many Pinkie Pies" (especially the jabs at certain canon events, the added details of the Mirror Pool's origins, the stuff that only the real Pinkie would know, Vanguard showing up again with other named guards and the steps taken to make sure the Mirror Pool is never used again).
Definitely looking forward to the next chapter and the differences from the canon version.
Good job on this new chapter, I enjoy it. Next is one bad apple
This was amazing! Really like the way you handled this episode!
Can’t wait to see what plans you have with the one clone that got away, be interesting to see how you’ll handle her
Next week, One Bad Apple
11891958
That would be poor taste.
11892001
Plus, Cheese Sandwich attended a party thrown by Pinkie when she was a filly.
11892006
Thanks.
11892024
Thanks.
11892047
Thanks.
11892070
You're welcome
11892082
What was the deleted comment?
11892071
You’re welcome
11892085
Sorry. I just post the comment to myself and have to post you again.
Looking pretty nice and how in this one they made sure for real they didn't dispelled the real Pinkie Pie.
Even thought Bats won't be adapted, I wonder if Flutterbat can still happen in another way in the future anyway?
I can see in Bad Apple, Bab Seed tries to bully the CMC but it gets quickly nipped in the bud by Spike who is having none of that shit.
And also someone telling her "I know you were bullied, but you doing it to others makes you no better than them."
Maybe a bit of foreshadowing about Spoiled Rich is why Diamond Tiara is such an ass too.
11892514
I’ll think about it.
Great chapter. I hope Spike could teach Bab Seed about bully and foreshadowing about why Diamond Tiara bully?
11892997
Maybe.
11891904
I guess you're outright ignoring the IDW comics, as #8 showed Surprise as a filly.
11893859
I wasn’t aware of that.
...really?
You being VEEEEEERRYYYYYY sublte with that foreshadowing here
Oh well!
YAY!
oh and she becomes full batpony? YAY!!!
happy "eee"
Oh so we name dropping her now? Nice!
And there she is!
Lemme give her a new name
Hmmm im thinking SUPRISE!
what do you think blue?
"Bet you can't make a face crazier than [g3 face goes here] THIS!"
11894309
It's not happening.
11894311
That was done in book 1.
11894317
That's the idea.
11894320
Yep.
11894321
I've made it clear that I won't adapt Bats! Since you missed it, here's why.
11894352
Understood
11894366
Oh...
Okay
11894356
Nice!
11894370
Did you get the message?