She stared up, everything blurry.
The soft blue was it's lightest in the middle, straight up, and darkest on the edge, to her sides.
It was cold, she could still remember that it was cold, but nothing else. Her eyes stung, but it never fazed her. Something rough and heavy was pushing against her stomach, making it sore and noticeable even though she was in a spaced-out state.
She was getting colder, and her coat and thick scarf did nothing to warm her at this point.
Then, something new caught her attention. It sounded like... hoofsteps, but distorted in a way. A shadow seemed to separate from darkest of the blues, shifting and changing until it stopped in the middle. Even though the shadow itself had stopped the sounds didn't stop, a quieter, softer, creaking sound seemed to echo the steps almost exactly.
She was still getting colder, and now her lungs started to hurt.
The shadow seemed to let off a pale yellow-pinkish glow, if that was possible.
It, or the shadow, tapped four times on the blue, the creaking sound was back, and that was the last thing she heard.
The dark water swallowed the pale yellow and pink figure that was once alive.
Fluttershy's clone stared down, scared and clueless, as the other pony sank further into the impossibly deep pool, shifting her weight to her left side as the ice creaked, tapping it to see if she could save the sinking pony. She couldn't do anything, lest she fall prey to the cursed pond. She backed away, the thin ice having started to crack in the few seconds she had stood there. Every creak of the ice sending a jolt of fear through her body, tempting her to go faster.
The trembling clone tripped on the roots covering the bank, causing her to almost fall down, and all she could focus on was the rather large stick that had crashed through the ice.
The pink pony hummed herself a joyous song as it made her feel warmer, the frost covered trees surrounded her, the trail covered in thick snow. She passed by many things in her life, though she would never forget the vines and brambles the she had fallen through to get to the Mirror Pool, which was a legend her Nana Pinkie her told her.
And as she just passed it, her tail twitched, predicting that something was going to fall. "Hmm... my tail's a-twitchin'," she contemplated, stopping to look up, "Huh."
Suddenly, a loud crack, crash, and shatter. Pinkie Pie could identify the crack as a branch, and the crash might've been smaller branches, but the shatter remained a mystery. She cautiously crept towards the brambles, the snow crunching beneath her hooves at coating her pink forelegs with snowflakes.
She peered over the edge in an impossible Pinkie way, and spotted Fluttershy stand in the middle of the ice, tap on it, and start backing away from the center of the Mirror Pool. Away from a large branch that had broken the ice, and trip over a root when she reached the bank.
"Hi Fluttershy! I never ever thought I would see you hear!" Pinkie said, ecstatic to see her friend. Fluttershy jumped, but still smiled back at her friend.
"Oh, hello, uh, what are you doing here?" Fluttershy asked, not quite remembering this pony. Even with how quiet her voice was, Pinkie still heard it.
"Oh, well I just got done helping Twilight organize her library, and before that I had helped Mr. Cake deliver a few orders, and before that I went to Rarity's to help her with eight dresses which included cutting fabric and being a 'model', even though she had tons of empty ones. And after helping Twilight I ran to all the houses in Ponyville to see if any one needed help or a party, but because no one needed help or a party I got super bored. So I talked to Gummy, though he didn't have much to say today, hey, that rhymed! Okay, back to the story, now I'm bored so I decided to walk, then on this walk only a few minutes ago I found a new path, so I decided to check it out, so while I was on the new path I passed these brambles that seemed really, and I mean really, really, really, familiar. Then there was this loud crack, and crash, then a sorta' shatter sound. After I looked over this ledge that doesn't look very safe, I saw you! And you were being a little weird. Are you okay?! Are you hurt?! Did something happen you're not telling me?! Wait, you don't look hurt, so you are probably okay. So, why are you here?'" Pinkie finished, Fluttershy trying to follow her not-so-brief brief story.
"Well, you see, I was... on a walk, too! You see, I was bored as well." she replied.
"Wow! Ooh, wait, how 'bout we continue our walks together?"
"Uh, okay."
"Yay!" the pink earth pony jumped up, making her way back to the trail as Fluttershy flew up. The two ponies then walked down the path, talking and laughing, all worries left far behind, and all the while the original Fluttershy's corpse lay pinned between the branch and the rocky bottom of the pool.
"Oh, hello Fluttershy, I haven't seen you all day." Twilight greeted, levitating a book from the cart next to her to a shelf. "That's because I was on a walk with Pinkie Pie." she answered, trotting towards Twilight.
"Really? When?"
"Uh, around one."
"But that's when... hmm... did Pinkie go to the Mirror Pool again?" the purple alicorn wondered out loud.
"Uh, I don't think so. Why would you say that?"
"Well, Pinkie was helping me in the library at one."
Flutter-clone forgot that part of Pinkie's answer, as it was a rather confusing one, and the mention of the Mirror Pool made her panic, as it was one of the few memories that she had taken from the original Fluttershy.
"Anyways, I was looking for you to ask for your help as well, and when I knocked on your door, you didn't answer."
"Oh, well, I was just taking a nap."
Something clicked in Twilight's brain. She didn't know what caused it, but she did know to trust the realization the this wasn't Fluttershy, and it could quite possibly be a changeling, since the changeling's defeat didn't guarantee that they would stay gone.
She turned her attention to the pegasus.
"Who are you?"