Pinkamena's Regrets

by Violyre

Rating: teen
Tags: Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Sad, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Rainbow Dash
Length: 6018

Pinkamena has her regrets about herself in this new universe. But who she is, she can't remember...

Pinkamena Diane Pie is Pinkie from another universe. But she doesn't remember what her old life was like, or why. She regrets what she has done--but what has she done? She has a goal, but she doesn't know what it is. She has no memory, or friends, or defense. But maybe this can be a good thing?

Pinkamena sets out to find out who she is, or at least remember what happened. Armed with the friendship of the ponies she meets along the way, her old pain is forgotten, and happiness fills the gaps.

But deep inside, there is a dark secret that must never be remembered.

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Pinkie Pie was living the life! She loved life, her parties, her happiness. But when she is suddenly transported to a new dimension, a dark life full of hatred and war, she has to start all over making friends. The ponies she meets now are ones that aren't as kind as she's used to.

But she has her own defense. She has knowledge stronger than Twilight Sparkle, more than even Princess Celestia. She knew this would happen, and she knew why. And she could help them in her new dimension. The only thing is, if they will follow her lead...

She has two choices: Try harder or...give in.

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(Picture is NOT mine, I just added text to a different picture, credit in image source)

Published 2012-05-29 23:14:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-19 18:06:48 UTC

Chapter 1: Regrets and Forgets (Pinkamena)

Pinkamena stared up at the sky, waiting for a response--even though she knew one would never come. A tear fell silently from her cheek at the thought of this depressing idea. She lowered her head, a pink hoof dragging through the dirt in front of her, tracing out the last letter: ‘Y’.

I’M SORRY, the message read. Though there was to be no forgiveness for what she’d done.

Even if she was sorry, there was no reversal. Pinkamena could still remember the look on Pinkie Pie's face as the portals closed, the planes shifted. As Pinkamena anchored herself permanently to this dimension.

Pinkamena's straight mane fell in front of her face, but she didn't bother to push it back behind her ear.

At the time when she had done all those crimes, done--whatever it was she had done, Pinkamena hadn’t cared at all. She hadn’t thought that she would have ever regretted it. She didn’t even know why she had done it, but the main concern of hers was what she had done.

Pinkamena used her hoof to push over a small pile of dirt nearby, and pulled out a small book from underneath it. Her journal. Hesitating, she opened it to the last page and read again the words she had read so many times.

Don’t ever turn back

Now that she was permanently in this universe, this plane of existence, she wasn’t quite so sure she wanted to stay. Pinkamena barely remembered why she wanted to come here in the first place. To kill more ponies perhaps? To escape the terrible battles of where she had come? More likely the latter.

But what exactly was it like back there? Her memories seemed to have huge scars and gaps in it. What had the portal done? And what was she?

"Pinkie Pie! There you are! I've been looking all over for you! Where have you been? After you disappeared from Sugarcube Corner, I couldn't find you! I've been so worried!" Twilight Sparkle called out. But Pinkamena knew that this Twilight Sparkle was from this universe. This Equestria. Twilight's voice didn't sound the same as Pinkamena was used to. It was much less...mean, cruel sounding. A lot more friendly. Was Twilight friends with Pinkie in this universe? Was that possible?

Pinkamena took a sharp breath in. Friends? She didn't think she could pretend to be friends with Twilight, or anypony for that fact, well enough to act like Pinkie. What had she been thinking when she traveled here? If only she could remember!

"Pinkie?" A purple hoof wiped a tear from Pinkamena's face that she hadn't known she'd shed. "Are...are you okay? Your mane's all straight...what have you been doing?" Twilight sounded sincerely concerned, in a way that it just tore Pinkamena's heart out. It had been so long since she'd been shown actual kindness, actual empathy. Just cruelty and hatred. The way Twilight spoke gave Pinkamena a bit of a spark of...friendship?

Friendship. The obscure word meant barely anything to Pinkamena now. It had been so long since she'd had friends, too. Friendship came with trust, right? Trust?

No! She'd vowed never to trust again, because it hurt too much when it was shattered.

A memory! She'd remembered something! Something from her life before! It was as if a haze had been lifted from a part of her mind, and she was sure that with time, more memories would follow. Another unknown feeling--hope?

Maybe having friends wasn't that bad in this universe anyway. And besides, Pinkamena had a feeling that this Twilight was trustworthy...

By now, Twilight had pulled Pinkamena to her feet, watching her carefully. "Um, Pinkie? Hello?" She waved a hoof in front of Pinkamena's nose.

Pinkamena shook herself out of her thoughts. "Sorry, Twilight. I was...thinking about something..." she spoke slowly, trying not to use as much anger and darkness in her tone as she normally had.

"Yeah, I could tell. Are you okay?" Twilight asked, really worried now. "Don't worry, no matter what you do, I won't judge you and neither will anypony else." she added.

The tears flowed freely now. Yes, they would judge her, more than they knew. Pinkamena wasn't friends with Twilight or any of these ponies, Pinkie Pie was. But Pinkamena was Pinkie Pie, technically, even if not from this dimension. Could she trust her? These friends of Pinkie Pie, the party pony, friends with anypony and everypony? Maybe Twilight could help her...but if she couldn't...

Pinkamena sighed. What was there to lose? There was plenty she needed to learn that she couldn't alone. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her head and looked at Twilight.

"Are you ready for this?" Pinkamena whispered. "I have a lot you need to know."

Twilight's eyes held understanding and worry, reassuring Pinkamena. Twilight held out a hoof and Pinkamena grasped it with her own dirt-smeared one.

"Tell me."

Chapter 2: What's Going On? (Pinkie)

Yeah, she knew it was coming. No, it wasn't her Pinkie Sense that had told her. But once she looked into those familiar eyes that had stared out at her from the mirror so many times, she knew. She knew it was for sure that her predictions were coming true.

Pinkie Pie had always had predictions. Pinkie Sense was just the more obvious ones. But the ominous voice that echoed in her head, warned her of the switch of dimensions, was a rare one for her to hear, though had never let her down.

Of course, she knew why she was in the Outer Worlds. That was the name of this dimension, the Outer Worlds. She was sure her opposite Pinkamena didn't remember that though. Of course, the portal had erased her memories, because it was her first time and she wasn't ready. But Pinkie Pie had used portals several times, and expected it. She was 'safe', in a sense. But was she really?

Observing her new surroundings, Pinkie noticed how many of the buildings were destroyed and the whole place had a general dark aura to it. Pinkie didn't like this, but she was sure that it would definitely be hard to befriend anypony here unless she knew what went on. And her psychic abilities didn't tell her that much, of course, that'd be cheating! What fun would her life be if Pinkie cheated? Nopony likes a cheater, because cheaters are spoilsports that ruin the fun of things. And Pinkie loved fun for sure!

Sure, back home in normal Equestria, nopony knew of her abilities, or how much she really knew. Everypony knew Twilight was smart though, which was good. Pinkie didn't want to be known for being smart, after all. She wanted to be known for something she could help--she was born smart, but she created happiness. And that was what she was known for! Her parties! Full of happiness!

There must have been a reason that she had been sent here. Pinkie was sure that it was because of the terrible war and battles and hatred that reigned the land. The Outer Worlds were the parallel opposite of the Inner Equestria, the one she'd originated from. So it only made sense that Pinkamena had had some twisted, evil reason to want to switch dimensions with Pinkie. If only she had realized that the dimensions were never meant to overlap...

Pinkie Pie sighed and shook her head, her cotton-candy bright pink mane that contrasted so greatly with her new environment bouncing around her. Oh well. She'd just have to act the silly Pinkie Pie party pony again, to keep balance.

Pinkie got to her feet and re-examined the Outer Worlds. Nopony in sight, she thought. She thought. A glint of something shiny caught her eye, and she noticed a shape under one of the fallen houses, just barely showing through. She trotted over to it.

"What's this?" She bent down and grasped the edge of it in one strong earth pony hoof, easily pulling it out from under the rubble. "A...remote of some sort?"

She turned it over in her hooves many times. There was no energy emanating from this object. It seemed simple enough, silver with a couple unmarked buttons. Pinkie could sense nothing from this--thing. The lack of feeling it gave her made her uncomfortable.

Pinkie gave it a tentative sniff. Nothing.

Suddenly, her ears flicked, and she glanced up sharply. She only saw a bush rustle, and her blue eyes narrowed in suspicion.

She was being watched.

Chapter 3: Twilight's Secret (Pinkamena)

Twilight's eyes widened in surprise as Pinkamena explained why she needed her help, where she was from, and how she couldn't remember anything really from her past except those few small memories and the one she'd just regained. It was much to take in at once, all the information Pinkamena was just revealing suddenly. As soon as she finished her long rant, taking only a few breaths, she burst into tears for the third time.

"Don't worry, I'm here for you. Even if you're not a friend of mine in your old dimension, doesn't mean we can't be friends here. And I'm always there for my friends to help and support." Twilight said gently, smoothing Pinkamena's mane.

Pinkamena blinked, and sighed. "Okay, I suppose you'll be able to help me. Trust, right?"

"Trust." Twilight smiled and pulled Pinkamena to her feet, gently untangling the knots in her mane and pulling out bits of dirt. "So, according to your story, you used a portal to get here, correct? And you sent the real--I mean, this dimension's Pinkie to the dimension you came from?"

"Yeah." Pinkamena nodded, wiping her eyes and smearing her face with more dirt. Twilight reached up and helped clean off the dirt all over Pinkamena with a levitating handkerchief.

Pinkamena looked into Twilight's eyes and whispered, "Thanks." Twilight knew she meant thanks for more than just getting rid of the dirt.

"Well, I've read about another dimension parallel to this one called the Outer Worlds. Does that ring a bell to you?"

Pinkamena thought hard, trying to unlock any memory of the Outer Worlds. There was nothing in her memory. Something seemed to be blocking it. "I don't remember," Pinkamena admitted.

"A portal...was it your first time using one? Normally there's an unexpected memory wipe when first using a portal, but if expected it can be prevented. I think I know a spell to reverse the effect though." Twilight knelt in the dirt and concentrated hard as her horn began to emanate a purple glow.

Pinkamena felt a bit lightheaded, but could feel the memories returning. She remembered the battles, the atmosphere, the fires. She gasped from the sudden flow of memory, but just as she did, it all disappeared again.

"Did it work?" Twilight fell over from exhaustion. "That spell takes a lot of power to execute, but is completely fail-proof!"

"It--it did, but then I forgot it all again..." Pinkamena murmured. "What went wrong? I don't get it..."

"It failed? But how? I did it perfectly!" Twilight panicked, her eyes widening in fear.

Seeing how afraid Twilight was made Pinkamena also scared. "Was...was it something I did? Was it because I'm not from this dimension?"

"No, that's not it. It works on anypony, anywhere. But...there must be something blocking you from remembering. An evil force...could it be...?" Twilight whimpered.

"Wh--what evil force? You didn't tell me about any evil force against me! Is there something I should know that you're not telling me?" Pinkamena defiantly glared into Twilight's eyes, sadness becoming anger at the though of this.

Twilight motioned for Pinkamena to kneel on the ground next to her as she brought herself back up into a sitting position. Pinkamena knelt.

"I think...I think there's something you should know that I never told Pinkie Pie. A very dark, very important secret that Pinkie wouldn't have been able to handle. It's about the Outer Worlds. A prophecy of what it would mean if her opposite from another dimension ever switched places with Pinkie...only to be told if it ever came true. And...it has." Twilight looked into Pinkamena's eyes.

"So now you're the one with the secrets?" Pinkamena shook her head exasperatedly. "Fine. You sound like I should be taking this seriously, so I will. Tell away."

The purple unicorn took a deep breath and slowly released it.

"Okay, here goes. Be ready for this."

Chapter 4: A Different Dimension (Pinkie)

What could that be? Pinkie wondered, carefully stepping over to the bushes. Giving one a small kick, it simply made a rustling noise similar to the one she'd heard, but there was nopony behind it.

"That's odd." Pinkie muttered. "I could have sworn there was somepony watching me. I had a strange feeling about this one. Maybe they ran away before I noticed?"

"Hey you! What do you think you're doing by MY bushes?!?" A loud voice boomed from behind Pinkie, startling her but sounding rather...familiar, in a strange sort of way. Pinkie slowly turned around, and looked right into a set of glaring turquoise eyes.

The pink mare took a few steps back and looked at this figure. A rumpled pink mane that curled at the end. A crushed-looking shape draped over her back, which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be...a white rabbit, covered in blood. The yellow hooves of this pony were covered in blood, but Pinkie didn't think it all belonged to the rabbit. Rabbit. Angel bunny, Fluttershy's beloved pet? Could it be?

The mangled body and furry mess of the bunny rabbit leaked bright red blood onto the mare's coat with a drip, drip, drip. It left dark stains across her soft yellow coat. The obviously dead carcass perched precariously between the pony's pair of wings, with many feathers missing here and there, and mysterious scars.

Pinkie Pie tried to sneak a glance at the pony's flank to check her cutie mark, but only managed to see a bit of light pink before she was shoved back by this surprisingly strong pony.

"Oh, I'm sorry I was in your bushes, I didn't know they were--" Pinkie was cut off by the loud resonating voice of what must be this dimension's Fluttershy.

"Sorry!? SORRY!? EVERYPONY SAYS THEY'RE SORRY, BUT THEY NEVER ARE! THEY ALWAYS COME BACK AND TRAMPLE MY BUSHES AGAIN AND AGAIN!!" Fluttershy's teeth clenched in anger. Her voice sounded the same as the Fluttershy Pinkie was used to, but much, much angrier. It held a resentment and disdain that didn't fit her at all.

"Fluttershy, you must believe me when I say I didn't mean--"

"Did you just call me FLUTTERSHY? NOPONY CALLS ME FLUTTERSHY! You should know that, Pinkamena. You remember I made a nickname for it before the war came here, to fit in. You were the one that said it fit me best."

Pinkamena? She thinks I'm Pinkamena? Pinkie thought. That's why she's acting like this, I suppose. Ah well, best not to correct her.

"I'm--I seem to have forgotten what your nickname was, Flutter--I mean..." Pinkie stammered, taken aback.

"Flutterdie." The yellow pony kicked Pinkie in the ankle, causing the party pony to lose her balance. "Or Flutters." Pinkie toppled to the ground and almost hit it face-first, but caught herself with her strong earth pony hooves and pushed herself into a sitting up position, flank on the ground and front hooves in the dirt. Ew, dirt. Pinkie thought disgustedly. Oh well, there seems to be a lot of dirt here. Guess I just have to get used to it.

Flutterdie? What kind of a name was that for the shy animal-loving pony Pinkie had known and loved back in the Inner Worlds of her own dimension? She decided to use the other option, Flutters, even though it still didn't fit quite to the personality of the usually kind pony. But this is the Fluttershy from this dimension, Pinkie noted mentally. Remember she's supposed to be the opposite of the one you knew.

"Oh, okay Flutters." Pinkie tried to smooth down her mane self-consciously. She figured, if she was in this dimension in place of Pinkamena, might as well play the part. However, this only helped to better catch the eye of 'Flutters'.

"Hey, wait. Your mane isn't the same straight style it was when I last saw you. Why'd you change it back? I thought you liked the more menacing look you had with your natural straight mane." Flutters' voice had lost the anger and resentment it had held, and instead resonated with the kindness and gentleness of Pinkie's old childhood friend.

"I, uh..." her front hooves, more used to making cakes than smoothing out the mane she usually curled so carefully in the mornings, went back down to the dirt in front of her. "Um, never mind. Some random idea. You know how I'm just full of those." Pinkie was sure that Pinkamena, who was now in her dimension that she so dearly missed, would have talked with a cruelty, and Pinkie tried to achieve this.

"You're not Pinkamena...who are you?" Flutters had figured out the truth by now, as it had been pretty obvious to see through Pinkie's false meanness. The pegasus gracefully knelt to the ground in the same way Pinkie Pie had seen her do when caring for animals, though this Fluttershy hadn't done that in quite some time because of the horrible famine and deaths in Ponyville recently. It was better for her to care for herself rather than the animals. It had been fun while it lasted.

"I, uh..." Pinkie repeated nervously. Fluttershy had never been a stupid pony, just quiet, as her namesake. Fluttershy after all. She figured that Flutters would have to figure out the honest, complete truth eventually, one way or another, and Pinkie Pie sure didn't want it to be by accident--Celestia knows what might happen because of that! But before she could control her mouth, Pinkie said, "No, I am Pinkamena...just...I'm a little off today. That's alll."

Flutters' suspicious gaze lessened, and Pinkie inwardly sighed in relief. That sure was a close one, she thought resignedly. Though I really hate to lie to my friends, or what they used to have been in my home dimension.

Flutters turned, and trotted away, muttering something profane, though it sounded also rather confused. Pinkie shook her head, knowing she'd have to get used to more of these types of ponies here.

Pinkamena then realized that meeting this new pony had made her forget about the rustling in the bushes completely. But by then, it was far too late, and the pony that had been watching her would be long gone by then.

Chapter 5: Broken Kindness (Pinkamena)

Pinkamena was kind of angry at Twilight for not having revealed these 'secrets' once she had first figured out about the portal and dimension switch. Well, I suppose there's no use in being mad, Pinkamena thought. She's going to tell me now anyway. Better late than never, right?

"Pinki--Pinkamena." Twilight sighed. "Sit. This is going to be a long story that you have to hear." Pinkamena plopped down into a sitting position, nearly falling over.

Twilight shook her mane out of her eyes. "Well, here goes." she muttered to herself.

"You see Pinkamena, when the two princesses Celestia and Luna created harmony throughout this dimension, the Inner Worlds, they had to hide all the bad stuff somewhere, right?" Twilight was acting awfully informal about this, but Pinkamena could tell by the unicorn's expression that it was very serious.

"Well, they hid all the evil beyond Tartarus. You know Tartarus, right? Cerberus guards the gates of it to keep the evil from escaping. Well, evil keeps escaping in the forms of many things. First it corrupted Luna, making her into Night Mare Moon and she attempted to cause eternal night!" Here Twilight shivered, as if eternal night was a horrible fate, though since it was always so dark in--the 'Outer Worlds'--Pinkamena didn't really care too much about this. She indicated for Twilight Sparkle to continue.

"Okay. So, then it released Discord, the spirit of disharmony and chaos, to destroy the lands and wreak havoc. Even more terrible!" Twilight grimaced. "And next, it released itself in the form of changelings--Chrysalis, the changeling queen, to be exact. She tried to take over all of Equestria and feed off of its love! But all of these evil beings didn't have a reason for it besides to have fun. Night Mare Moon wanted the ponies to be awake during her night and not just sleep through it. Discord wanted chaos just for the heck of it! Chrysalis was just--hungry, I suppose. That one makes the least sense to me.

"What I was thinking was that there is a darker force behind all of this evil. Sure, Night Mare Moon turned back into Princess Luna, but where does the evil go? It has to go somewhere! There was Gilda too, the griffon. She was really mean to Pinkie Pie but left in anger after a party went wrong. But that wasn't evil enough. I think this evil is corrupting somewhere else, and that else must be none other than..."

Twilight took a deep breath for dramatic effect.

"The Outer Worlds."

"What?" Pinkamena shouted in surprise. "I mean, what? Are you sure? I mean, there were wars and battles there, but it's not completely evil!" Pinkamena was defensive of the ponies that she had used to be friends with in the Outer Worlds, even if they didn't care much for each other anymore.

Memories flooded into Pinkamena's mind, many of them, though parts were still missing. Her old friends, friends before the releases. Release? That was when a huge portal opened and...oh no.

Twilight noticed the hesitant acceptance Pinkamena showed, and knew that memories had come back.

"You remember, don't you? The Releases? The portals between our two worlds broke open and evils from your dimension came into ours, combining the two. Three times, wasn't it? And there were minor ones as well. Those three I told you aren't the only times, as you could have noticed from my example of Gilda."

Pinkamena nodded. This much was true, she supposed. But she still didn't really want to believe that her best friend was truly evil, or was made of evil, or anything of the sort. There were memories now, of them playing together before the Releases that caused the wars and battles. They had played in a field full of flowers and animals. Pinkamena at the time, found it astounding that her friend, the pegasus, could talk to the animals, in the same way that she found it amazing how Pinkamena threw such great parties.

They had been the greatest pair, those two. Kindness and Laughter went well together. They had spread happiness everywhere, Pinkamena remembered. Though, that was before Celestia went mad and created the war...

Of course, this best friend was none other than Fluttershy. She didn't go by Fluttershy anymore though. What was that nickname she had taken on again? Flutterby? Flutterlie?

Oh yes--Flutterdie, or Flutters, the murder pony. Pinkamena could only hope that this dimension's Pinkie Pie hadn't angered Flutterdie in the Outer Worlds. Oh no, oh no oh no oh no...

"Um, Pinkamena? You okay?" Twilight waved a purple hoof in front of Pinkamena's face. She poked Pinkamena's nose, and she toppled backwards onto the ground, her mouth frozen in a perfect O.

"Pinkamena? What's wrong?"

Chapter 6: Forgotten Loyalty (Pinkie)

Poor Pinkie! She was trapped in a mysterious dimension where even her powers couldn't help, without any friends, completely unfamiliar to the coldness of the ponies here. What could she do?

Pinkie suddenly perked up. Princess Celestia! She was bound to know what was going on here! But was the Outer Worlds Celestia as nice as the one Pinkie was so familiar with?

Twisted in a delusional belief of optimism that Pinkie didn't know she had, her mind decided that yes, Celestia must be nice here, because after all, she had been so nice back in regular Equestria. A toss of her head poofed her mane back into its normal cotton candy poofiness as Pinkie bounded happily towards the castle in the distance over the horizon. In fact, this entire dimension had made Pinkie Pie so 'messed up'--for lack of a better term--that she was completely delusional, believing that even though there had been so much war and havoc, the ponies would still be as nice as they were in the other dimension.

Pinkie remembered the remote. It had fallen to the ground somewhere nearby when she went to go check in the bushes. This is a confusing dimension, she thought, as she picked up the object in her mouth and took a steady gallop toward the distant Canterlot.

In a matter of a few minutes, she was almost out of Ponyville. Just as she was about to leave the town, however, her way was blocked by a pegasus mare in dark costume covering most of her face and body. The mare, hovering slightly above Pinkie's head, slowly lowered herself to the ground with her deceptively fluffy blue wings.

"What do you think you're doing? Nopony is allowed to leave Ponyville, not at this time, and you know that!" The commanding, strong, but menacing voice was also familiar, yet unfamiliar, as was the norm for many of the ponies and atmosphere of the Outer Worlds.

"Oh!" Pinkie stumbled back, shaking her head and spitting out the remote so that it slid through the dirt and came to a stop just behind Pinkie's back left hoof. By this, she hoped that the dark mare, in a sort of Wonderbolt/Shadowbolt costume only different, would not notice it. However, this was not the case.

"What's that you got there?" The pegasus spoke with a hint of cheer at the thought of confiscating something obviously so important to this pink earth pony.

"N--nothing, why?" Pinkie stammered, only making it more obvious that she did indeed have something hidden behind her. She immediately sat down on top of the remote to cover it.

"I know what you're trying to do. Get up." The Something-bolt shoved Pinkie aside, and only then did Pinkie realize who this mare was. She could see the colorful tail poking out from the back of the costume that was completely unique to only one pony. Very Obvious Clue number 1.

"R-ra--" Pinkie started to say.

"Hey! You don't have permission to speak. Shut up!" the stranger (who was, of course, no longer a stranger to Pinkie) shouted rudely. Unstrapping her goggles and lifting them above her head, a pair of dark cerise eyes with short eyelashes blinked, and inspected the remote no longer in Pinkie's posession. Very Obvious Clue number 2.

"Ra--rainbow?" Pinkie gasped in surprise, now sure of the fact.

"What did I say about speaking with permission? Disobeying orders not once but twice, by trying to escape Ponyville, and speaking when told not to. Also, you stole this remote from the Queen! That's three rules broken. I'll have to turn you in...what a pity, Pinkamena. We were friends before, were we not? Before friendship was completely removed from Equestria and banned, that is." Rainbow Dash shook her head.

"I--oops." Pinkie pointed to her mouth to ask if she could speak. Rainbow Dash nodded.

"Yeah, you can speak. What is it?" she looked at Pinkie.

"Banned? Why in the name of, well, herself would Princess Celestia ban--"

Once again, Rainbow Dash interrupted. "Princess Celestia? Oh no no no, of course not! Princess Celestia doesn't rule Equestria! Did you fall off a cliff again and hurt your stupid little head, Pinkamena?" Rainbow laughed as she mocked Pinkie.

"But if Princess Celestia doesn't rule Equestria, then who does? Princess Luna?"

Rainbow laughed even harder this time. "You crack me up, Pinkamena, when you're stupid, which is always! Where do you get this stuff?"

Pinkie sighed. Everypony still called her Pinkamena, even though her mane wasn't straight, though she was sure that it was starting to flatten down over time. Maybe the Outer Worlds Pinkie used Pinkamena instead of her nickname Pinkie Pie for the same reason Fluttershy preferred Flutters. What was Rainbow's nickname?

"So if it's not Princess Luna or Princess Celestia, who is it? I don't think it's you, Rainbow Dash. Highly unlikely." Pinkie tried for an air of meanness again but she failed terribly at it, of course.

"Rainbow Dash? Nopony still calls me Rainbow Dash. You must have really hit your head badly, Pinkamena!" Rainbow kept laughing. "It's Rainstorm now, but I also use my Darkbolt name Darkness Dash. Call me whatever you like though. If you really want to sound stupid to everypony else, just call me Rainbow Dash!" the quick-flying pegasus fell to the ground convulsing in laughter as Pinkie just glared at her. Pinkie Pie was the element of Laughter, but hated to be laughed at, though she couldn't do anything about being mocked by a strong, fast pony such as Rainbow--er, Rainstorm, or Darkness Dash, or whatever she used.

It was all so confusing keeping her friends' normal names straight with their evil nicknames. She decided to just use Dash, because it was a nickname for both Rainbow Dash and Darkness Dash, and was good enough to probably be okay and not stupid by the Darkbolt Dash's standards. Wait, Darkbolt? "Um, Dash, what's a Darkbolt?"

"Darkbolt? None other than the elite flyers of the one and only Queen of Equestria, duh. I'm their leader." Dash proclaimed proudly.

"Queen? You still haven't told me who the princess is yet. Who is she?" Pinkie asked, hoping for a good answer though there would most likely be nothing good in this dimension.

"Why, Queen Chrysalis, of course. Princess Celestia, the used-to-be ruler of Equestria, has been...removed. Princesses are so old school, Pinkamena." Dash continued to overuse Pinkie's childhood name, which bothered her greatly, though she couldn't show it for fear of being discovered.

"How was Princess Celestia removed?" The atmosphere around Pinkie seemed to be getting darker, and she was unsure she wanted to know the answer.

"Princess Celestia isn't...here anymore."

"But how is Princess Celestia not here?" Pinkie didn't know why she kept probing, not like she wanted to really know.

"Princess Celestia...isn't here...because..." Dash paused for dramatic effect and leaned in close to Pinkie's face as they looked eye to eye. Pinkie shivered at what the pegasus said next. "Because she's dead."

Chapter 7: Necessary Disguise (Pinkamena)

"Pinkamena? What happened?" Two purple eyes blocked Pinkamena's line of vision and were the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes. Pinkamena simply looked at Twilight and ran off without saying a word.

"Pinkamena! Wait!" the unicorn called from behind her, though she didn't turn or slow down. Pinkamena kept running. One word kept repeating in her mind.

Unbalance. Unbalance. Unbalance.

The unbalance of the two dimensions would surely destroy the two party ponies if tons of ponies found out the truth to Pinkamena. Using this fact in her mind, the mare ran quickly and found Sugarcube Corner nearly immediately. Of course, she'd memorized its location and appearance. However, she still found herself staring in awe at the bakery she used to love so much, until it was burned to the ground and the war began.

Holding back the tears of nostalgia, Pinkamena peeked in a window to make sure the Cakes weren't there, and hurried in and up the stairs. The Cakes, her abusive caretakers in a time past, in a dimension past. I hope these Cakes are a lot nicer than the ones I knew, Pinkamena thought as she found Pinkie's room and noted the mane curler on the dresser. Snatching it up in a hoof, she looked at herself in the mirror, inspecting each and every aspect of her appearance that was different than she imagined this dimension's Pinkie Pie to be.

Dust and dirt on her face, a tangled mane, scars and cuts on her arms and legs. A bruise in her shoulder. Pinkamena didn't remember how any of the scars had gotten there, though she was pretty sure the bruise was from passing out in front of Twilight.

Twilight. Twilight's secret! Wasn't she going to tell me something? Pinkamena realized. Buck! I should have stayed! She had run off against her better judgement, but her thoughts and faint memories of unbalanced dimensions were mostly responsible. Oh well, she could always ask Twilight later at--wherever it was Twilight stayed at. Everything in this universe was so new to Pinkamena, she didn't really know much, and felt like a filly for it.

Thoughts swirled in her mind as Pinkamena's eyes refocused to her mirror image. Using her hoof not holding the curler, she tried to pull out the knots in her mane, though it was difficult with hooves. She was rather used to her mane hanging down by her face, and was reluctant to give it up. It matched her depressed emotion rather well.

There was no other choice. The pink pony took one lock of hair in a dirtied hoof and wrapped it around the curler.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pinkamena looked sadly at her reflection. Her mane now curled above her head in a very cheerful manner, and her tail was curled in the same way.

Now, for that dirt and those scars. She trotted into the bathroom, where she filled the sink with clean water and dunked her head in, not hesitating a moment. Brr! That is some cold water! Pinkamena quickly pulled her head out from the sink, her cuts burning with the freezing water. The dirt had cleared off, though, and her scars were less painful once the cold wore off, which it quickly did.

Though there were disadvantages. Scars now showed better as dark slashes against her bright pink coat. Especially that bruise. Sighing, Pinkamena splashed the cold water onto her back and legs, then searched the cabinets for something to add to her disguise.

The first thing she pulled out was a bottle of chocolate syrup. She looked at it in disgust. Syrup? Who puts syrup in a bathroom? Besides, the sugar was absolutely unbearable! Sweet was a taste Pinkamena abhorred, a delicacy from early war-times and before. The near apocalypse they lived in now had no use for it.

No, Pinkamena thought to herself. You don't live in those times anymore, nor in that dimension. Start thinking cheerful. Ugh. Cheerful. It would be rather difficult.

The second try, she got a capsule of something called 'Pinkish'. Upon opening the lid, she found that it had a tiny mirror and brush, and a pink circle the same color as her coat. She picked up the brush, which had a bit of that pink stuff on it. It seemed just like colored dust to Pinkamena, though she suspected it would help.

How do I use this thing? Pinkamena was wondering just as a loud noise made her jump. The door to Pinkie's--no, her room--smashed against the inner wall, and a unicorn galloped in.

"Pinkamena! You--" Twilight stopped in surprise to see Pinkamena holding Pinkish brand blush in her hoof. Her mane had also been curled! Twilight, however, could tell that it wasn't Pinkie and was indeed Pinkamena by noting the slight darkness in Pinkamena's blue eyes.

"Oh! Twilight! I was just, uh..." Pinkamena stammered, dropping Pinkish onto the floor, where it clattered and was still.

"A disguise! This is ingenious!" Twilight exclaimed, using her signature 'long words'. "Here, let me give you a hoof with that. You're trying to prevent the portals ripping, aren't you?" Twilight began to drone on about something Pinkamena didn't give a buck about as the unicorn levitated the blush back up and used the brush to dab on Pinkamena's scars.

Pinkamena could only feel grateful for Twilight's help, and that she didn't have to explain.

So this is what it's like to have friends! Pinkamena thought, not noticing the pain of the blush as she smiled.