The Shimmering Truth

Pinkie Pie fealt like she was going to throw up. Or... Down? Not even throw either, more of a nudge, or slash. Splash... She had a faint memory of what happened, but couldn't focus. She stood up, or down, UGH! This place was giving her a headache!

Pinkie could feel... She couldn't tell. She couldn't feel, yet she could. It was almost as if she was stepping on... The lack of something to step on? However, it was hard. This made her headache even worst. Instead of smelling nothing, she could smell the actual lack of smells! "So this is what it's like to smell nothing. I thought the air, and nothing, would smell different, but they don't!" She thought to herself.

Attempting to get up, Pinkie noticed she fealt something under her. What? She looked down at the floor, and she started back at herself. Where her hooves were, the other Pinkie had hers below them. She looked at her reflection and giggled. What? Was this what the mirror pool did? Another me? What is she doing here?

Her reflection didn't giggle back. "What do you find so funny?" Pinkie thought. Wait... Pinkie hadn't thought it! The other Pinkie was glaring at her, as if expecting  an answer. Pinkie tried to say something, but was cut off. Wait.. No she wasn't! She couldn't make any noise!

Pinkie distinctly remembered Twilight saying that noise was moving air, or something like that, and Pinkie laughed and corrected, "That's the wind, silly!"

The other Pinkie watched her ponder, but became restless. Who was this mare? Why did she have to be stuck with HER, out of all her other reflections? "Hey! What's wrong!" She said, starting to loose her temper.

Pinkie was confused. She looked up, and saw another pony, looking up at a mirror image of herself. Was that.. Nightmare Moon? She gazed up, and noticed Nightmare arguing with herself, and heard something, but she couldn't quite make it out. Their mouths weren't moving though. Wait what? This place is really confusing!

"PINKIE PIE LOOK AT ME!!"

Pinkie was startled, as her reflection yelled at her. Looking down again, she tried to mouth 'i can't talk'.

"Your acting as if you've never seen a complex before. Didn't they train you!?"

Pinkie started dumfounded at the other Pinkie, who rolled her eyes.

"Apparently I have to be stuck with the only mare to ever be clueless about the most common of things."

Pinkie's headache grew. How could she be thinking these things without... Thinking Them? Was the mare below her thinking the thoughts? Could she also read her mind??

Seething with rage, Pinkie gave an icy stare at her newfound companion, but then she understood. This was all a prank! "Ha. Ha. Very funny Pinkie. I have to admit that scared me, but we're not supposed to be making jokes! This is serious! Don't you realize what's at stake here? We need to work together and get out of this complex and into the safe zone!"

Pinkie gave the other Pinkie a confused stare. What was this mare taking.. Er... Thinking, about? Would it be taking? Can you talk without a mouth? Can you think without a thought? That one had her pondering.

"SNAP OUT OF IT! YOU DONT WANT TO END UP IN VOID DO YOU!?" What if she did want to? Uh oh. She was stuck with a suicidal reflection. Great. Just great.

Pinkie decided to try something. Attempting to think as clearly and loudly as she could, she said... Thought, "Can you hear... I mean... Do you know what I'm thinking?"

Pinkie rolled her eyes. Her reflection insisted on joking around. Didn't she realize they both could lose their lives!!? "Yes." She said bluntly. "I can hear you. Now can you please stop joking, and actually take this seriously?"

"Take what seriously? Is this called talking? Is it possible to talk without... Well... Talking?"

Pinkie wanted to facehoof. Doing so would get them thrown into void however. Later, in a safe area, she would have herself reversed, and show this mare a thing or too. "Look, I'm going to assume that your not joking, and nobody taught you anything more than how to speak, and even faltered on that. What we are in, is a complex. When two reflections venture out of a safe zone for whatever reason, they must have their gravity reversed, and will... Should, work together to get past the complex. Understand?"

This Pinkie was funny. Giggling, Pinkie decided to play along. "Okie dokie lokie! Whats a safe zone, and where is one? Why is there no ground? Are you the ground? What's it like being a floor? Does it hurt?" After showering her with questions, Pinkie fealt a twinge of guilt. Had she hurt this pony? Wouldn't she feel it if she hurt herself, or did this not count? "Im soooo sorry if I hurt you! Here, I'll get off of you."

"STOP!"

There was a horrified look on the other Pinkie's face, as she attempted to put her hoof where Pinkie's was going. Then something happened... Or didn't happen rather. There was no floor! Her hoof went through what she presumed to be glass or something see through, but nothing was there!

"ARE YOU CRAZY!!??" Pinkie frantically balanced her reflection. She really was suicidal. Either that, or incredibly stupid. "Don't move please? I am your floor. You are my floor. It doesn't hurt, IT IS OK. This is what were supposed to be doing." Minus the part where her reflection disregards everything important. Continuing, she said, "You obviously have no training in this, so I'll let you lead. The nearest safe zone.. Er.. The nearest non-pony floor, Pinkie, is over there." She then pointed her hoof towards a distant shape. "How about we get there, then I can explain to you everything you want. Just..."

Her serious expression faltered, and she almost started crying. A single tear fell, and hit her reflection. "Just please, don't fall. Don't jump, run, or lie down. With your left hoof, take a normal step. I will do the same, to balance you. Trust me, Ive been waking complexes my entire life."

Pinkie started at herself, seeing a look of genuine fear. This wasn't a joke? Oh no. This is bad. How will I get home to the girls? How will I make it to land? I've never walked on somepony else's hooves before! Pinkie started hyperventilating. Herself, the other Pinkie, then gave her a reassuring, yet scared smile.

"If you hear, or see anyone screaming, or if they're rocking or..." She took a deep breath "..falling, don't look. Ignore them. Its best for you not to know what happens when somepony looses their balance. It's worst than death, I can promise you, and you do not want to watch it happen." Sobbing, Pinkie finished explaining, and hoped to god that her reflection understood.

Pinkie gave a slight nod. It was all she could muster. Being told so much, she could hardly take it. What would happen if she tripped? What if she forgot, and started jumping up and down? No. Becoming more serious then she ever had before, she nodded. "I understand. I will walk straight and steady, no matter what."

Then, Pinkie put her hoof forward, and started waking. Step after step, the Pinkies became more nervous, yet fealt safer. Pinkie was starting to get used to this and developed a simple routine:

Left hoof, wait for other Pinkie's right hoof.

Right hoof, wait for other Pinkie's left hoof,

Repeat.

She was getting used to this, and smiled. "This wasn't as hard as I thought at all!"

"Don't get too confident. Ap.. Apple..." She held back another sob. Taking a deep breath, she went on. "AppleJack fell like that. They were getting too confident, and started trotting."

Pinkie was horrified. AppleJack was gone? But... No. The farm mare would never be so reckless. This Pinkie had to be mistaken.

Pinkie was snapped out of her thinking however, when she heard a shrill scream! She forgot Pinkie's advice and looked up. Nightmare Moon was falling!... And flying? One of her was screaming as she fell DOWN, and the other also screeching, fell... UP. This place was officially weird.

Pinkie saw that her reflection looked up, for a moment, but then looked down. 'She doesn't get it', she thought. 'Luckily'. The truth of the matter was, if anypony fell, they would keep falling, forever. They would starve to death, go mad, all while they kept falling. After death, their corpsss continued to fall. There was a theory amongst some ponys, that there was a bottom, and a top, and when your body landed on one of them, you were resurrected. An afterlife, if you will.

Pinkie mourned the loss of another pony, until she realized exactly WHO was falling...

Nightmare Moon...

The immortal...

An eternity of falling....

Maybe someday she would reach the theoretical bottom? For her sake, Pinkie hoped there was. An eternity of boredome, hunger, thirst, insanity, bad emotions and guilt, nopony deserved that, even if they committed the most terrible deed. This is truly a sad day. I envy my reflection for her blissful unawareness of what the world is, and what it does to unsuspecting ponies.

While they were walking, Pinkie was thinking. Was the other Pinkie really herself? It didn't seem like it. She was way too serious, and never seemed to be happy. That wasn't like her at all. She had to be sympathetic though, living with your death, just a slip away, would be a toll on anypony.

She was also wondering about Nightmare Moon. What was she doing here? Didn't she turn back into Luna? Or.. Were they two different ponies? Does that mean Nightmare... Died? Why was she here?

Even if she had been Nightmare Moon, Pinkie still fealt sad. She had never fully grasped the concept of death, as it has never happened regarding somepony she knew before. Now that she was beginning to understand, she couldn't imagine anything worst than death, besides being hurt, then dieing. Pinkie shook her head, causing a glance from the other Pinkie. She didn't want to dwell on a subject like that.

How were her friends? Did they realize she was missing by now? Were they looking for her, trying to find her? Surely none of her clones would pass the test, and be able to pose as her... Right?

Pinkie's eyes teared up, and a frown slipped on her face. She missed her friends, and she hoped with all her heart, that they knew, and missed her back.

Sadly, they did not.

Pinkie Pie bound the streets of Ponyville, trying out every treat and drink she could fit in her stomach. Back home, she was only allowed rations, and they rarely tasted better than their own hooves. She was overjoyed to be finally free from that horrible dimension, and wanted to have as much fun as, possible!

This new world fealt very strange however. Only one direction of gravity?!? The research team would freak out if they found this place! To never be afraid of a faulty safe zone barrier, was a dream come true. Unless of course this world's barrier was the supposed atmosphere. She would have to research this place better sometime.

Sound. What a wonderful thing. Pinkie found that she couldn't read other's minds anymore, but they had a unique way of communicating. The ponies here moved their mouths to make words, and made sound come out by breathing out. It was a wonderfull way to communicate!

Air. Breathing. So hard to keep up! The ponies had to expand their lungs, and gather air. A strange concept indeed. Sometimes, Pinkie forgot to breath, and started getting light headed, which was the only reason she noticed, and started breathing again.

This was all a distraction however. Pinkie had a plan. The citizens of Ponyville would get suspicious no doubt, if she didn't act however the old Pinkie acted. She had to find a way around that. An idea she had, was that she could trick the ponies into believing that she had developed amnesia. That way she could learn about Equestria's culture and ponies.

There was still a personality issue however. How would she act... Happy? Her excitement in this new world would be sufficient for now, but then what? Pinkie knew that after years of training for mail duties, she had all but lost her smile. It was very awkward to attempt. Her mouth just wasn't made for that. She still practiced though. It she was going to take over the other Pinkie's life, she would have to learn to smile.