As Fast As You Can

The quiet inside Town Hall was eerie, only occasionally broken by the buzz of Twilight's magic, and the sound of the Pinkies' voices. Dozens of the pink mares stared intently at the wall. Many of them were only marginally aware of the fate of their sisters; to them it was just another game. Some seemed to be aware that something more serious was occurring, but their short attention span and hyperactive state soon led to their downfall. Only a few, maybe half a dozen, realized that their very existences were on the line.

One particular Pinkie (honestly, she preferred Diane) sitting near the back had figured out what was up nearly immediately. The sobering sight of one of her sisters exploding in a blast of pink light had cleared her mind rather ruthlessly. In the beginning all the new sensation had been overwhelming her mind, unprepared for the world outside the pool. She had been in a state of euphoria for hours, eagerly bouncing from one new thing to the next. With the threat of destruction looming she could finally think clearly, and it was terrifying. Now she realized the only thing between her and the evil, pink beam of doom was her ability to concentrate. So she stared at the wall, desperately trying to ignore all distractions.

Unfortunately, her brain was betraying her. Every sight and sound fought for her attention despite her attempt to block them out. The cheerful chirping of a bird outside the window, or the ridiculous face of one of her sisters, or the gruesome sight of the pink laser that spelled the end for so many of them. After a few minutes of this, she knew she wasn't going to be able to do it. Something was going to catch her off guard eventually, it was just a matter of time. But there had to be some other way!

She glanced around the room out of the corner of her eye. She kept her head locked forward, not daring to test her watchers. She felt her heart sink a little. The orange pony (Applejack, she remembered) was standing in front of the doors, which were closed anyway. All the windows she could see were closed, and the only open ones she could see were too close to one of the pegasi or the purple unicorn of death.

Then she saw it! Up and to her left on the second floor, an open window across the hall from the watching ponies. It would be close but she knew she could make it. All she needed now was an opportunity.

As much as she hated it, she would have to wait for some of her sisters to distract the purple unicorn. The ponies were too intent on all of them, and she couldn't exactly stand up and yell "Hey look! A distraction!" She would be blasted for sure! But even if she had to let a few more die, she could do one thing to help the rest of her sisters before she escaped. So she waited for her moment, eyeing their guards for the best opportunity to strike.

Now! Four of her sisters had raced to a window across the hall to look at an orange-frog, and the purple one was busy zapping them! Diane leaped to her hooves and screamed "RUN!" as she sprinted for the open window.

Four of the five other Pinkies rose with her to run for the window. One was grabbed by the rainbow pegasus before she made it half way there. Two were blasted by the purple one just before they made it out the window. The last one and Diane both dove out the window just ahead of the pink beams and into freedom.

Twilight had no idea what was going on. One second she had been blasting a few Pinkies who had been looking out a window, and then one of them was yelling "Fun!" again and all the Pinkies but one had suddenly rushed for an open window across the hall! She'd managed to hit two, and Rainbow Dash had tackled one that she had promptly destroyed, but two had still escaped.

"Don't worry Twilight, I'll catch them!" yelled Rainbow Dash as she blasted out the window the Pinkies had escaped through. Twilight shook her head and ignored it the for the moment, instead trotting up to the last Pinkie who was still starring at the wall.

"Pinkie, you can look away now," she said gently.

Pinkie looked up at her, seeming confused. "I passed?"

"You passed," Twilight replied. "You're the only Pinkie who kept staring at the wall."

Pinkie looked up at her friends " I had to. I just had to. I couldn't leave my friends, I just couldn't. But I guess sometimes I will have to choose between them," She said a little ruefully, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. She frowned suddenly, looking over Twilight's shoulder. "But, why is Fluttershy crying over there?"

Twilight whipped around to see that Fluttershy hadn't joined her, Rarity, and Applejack in congratulating Pinkie. She was sitting where she had since the contest had started, weeping quietly while looking at the window the last two clones had escaped through. Her eyes were wide, shocked.

Twilight galloped over to her. "Fluttershy, what's wrong? Pinkie's fine, we have her back, everything's okay!"

"..."

Fluttershy's response was inaudible as she stayed where she was, still looking at the window.

"What Fluttershy? We can't here you."

Fluttershy finally turned to look at her, tears streaming down her face, eyes wide in horror. "They were scared," came her whispered reply. "If they were just magical constructs, then why were they so scared at the end?"

"What?! What are you-" Twilight froze as she went over the last few minutes in her head. She thought of the one who had stood up and yelled, and the looks on the faces of the ones who ran. The fear, the utter terror in their eyes as they dashed for the window, the desperation in the yelling ones voice.

"She didn't yell fun, did she? She said run."

Fluttershy nodded wordlessly. But that didn't make sense, it couldn't! The clones were just magical copies, bad imitations of the real thing, anypony could see that! They couldn't think or feel, just act as the magic had designed them to. Right? Right!?

But then why had they looked so scared? No magical construct in the history of Equestria had ever been able to value their own existence, let alone imitate emotions. But that would mean...

Twilight dropped to the floor in shock, horrified. "Oh Celestia," she moaned. "What have I done?!"