Ponyville, Equestria

It all started with the Mirror Pool. When Pinkie Pie found it, she couldn’t believe her luck! Now she needn’t worry about spending time with all her friends. She could just make a copy of herself, and that way she could double her time! So she had slipped into the pool, feeling the strange sensation of moving up and sideways and back and forth all at the same time, and found herself standing and blinking at an identical copy of herself, which had crawled up out of the water and was smiling at her.

There were two small problems, however. Firstly, and what, at that time, had seemed like the biggest problem, was that her exact copy wasn’t quite so exact, lacking any but the shallowest connection to Pinkie’s mind and having none of her memories. The clone leaped into the Pool, replicating itself again, and again, and again. In the end, that problem was easy enough to sort out, although it did leave Pinkie quite drained, emotionally, fearing that her friends could not tell her apart from the numerous others. It even made her doubt her own reality. If she was a clone, would she know? Or was there some other Pinkie out there, also feeling so depressed?

Still, Twilight’s quick thinking saved the day. Her plan to force the lot of them to sit and watch paint dry, the most boring task ever, was perfectly genius, if she didn’t later say so herself a million times. Only the real Pinkie had enough of an emotional connection to her friends to be able to make herself do it without breaking concentration. Only the real Pinkie could, and only the real Pinkie did. The rest were sent back into the pool from whence they came, and the Pool’s chamber was sealed away.

So that was the big problem solved, nice and neat and wrapped up with a bow.

But what about that which, at the time, had seemed like the smaller problem?

That was quite a bit more complicated. You see, along with Pinkie’s physically identical clone, something else came out of the mirror pool, as well. Something that looked . . . kind of like Pinkie, but also not. It looked like Pinkie, when Pinkie was depressed, or angry. Hair limp and straight, colours muted, grayed out. The pony’s face was almost always twisted in either a sneer of disdain or a grimace of disgust.

Rather than being a carbon copy, this creature was like the opposite of Pinkie in every way. Angry, where Pinkie was happy. Grim, where Pinkie was glad. Cynical, where Pinkie was ever the optimist. She seemed to hate everypony and everything around her, attempting to strike anypony that got too close, or else spit on those she couldn’t reach. When she spoke, her voice was both eerily similar to Pinkie’s, and yet different, carrying none of the joy and happiness that the pink mare’s friends expected from the party pony. She also tended to swear, a lot, and often seemed dissatisfied after, as though she had wanted to say something more, something that was somehow worse than “horseapples” or even “buck”.

Of course, she couldn’t, though, because of the Rating. In fact, we’re not even supposed to say things like “Buck”, but she gets away with it!

Oh, hi! You weren’t expecting me, were you?! Silly fillies, oh, an colts, of course! Of *course* it’s me! Who else would narrate this little part of the story? Duh! So, who was this weird creation of the Mirror Pool? Well, she’s like, my evil twin! Except she’s not evil, not really! She’s just a bit . . . dark, that’s all. A bit more mature than this world she’s found herself in. Such a shame, if she’d waited another seven years, the show would be over and we could all go do what wanted!
But, unfortunately, that wasn’t meant to be. Which is why, much as I think it really sucks, Twily thinks she should be sent away. Which is why we’re heading to Applejack’s barn, now. Twily says she’s got a spell that can send my Dark Half somewhere she’ll be more at home. I just hope she’s right, and it doesn’t send her off to Tartarus or some other bad place!

Oh, or Jersey! Ugggh

Anyway, where are we now. . . Ah, here we go!

“But, Twilight! Please, she’s not evil! Really!”

The purple unicorn sighed, turning and looking at her pink friend as they walked down the street heading out of Ponyville, towards Sweet Apple Acres.

“I know she’s not evil, Pinkie.” She said, only to be interrupted by the pink party pony bouncing to a halt in front of her.

“Then why are you sending her to Tartarus?!” She exclaimed, blue eyes popping out of her skull as she placed her forehooves on either side of Twilight’s face.

Twilight groaned, pushing Pinkie’s hooves off of her and walking past her. “For the last time, Pinkie! That’s not what this spell is supposed to do. It’s meant to transport her to somewhere she’ll be more . . . at home.”

“But she could be at home here! Isn’t that, like, what Equestria is?! A place to be yourself and be accepted?!”

“Well, yes, Pinkie but . . . even here, there are . . . limits.”

“Limits! Pfft! You mean the rating?!”

“Rating? What are you talking about, Pinkie?”

“Oh, er . . . nothing, Twilight. Hehehe.” Pinkie said, nervously, smiling at her purple friend, who stared at her for a moment longer before nodding and starting to walk again.

Pinkie sighed, casting a glare to the upper left corner of the screen. “Stupid Y rating, getting my other me kicked out and sent Celestia knows where!” She turned and looked directly at you, lovely readers and shrugged, seeming at a loss for what to do.

* * * * *

As the two ponies approached the barn at Sweet Apple Acres, which Applejack had offered to Twilight for use in the spell, they heard commotion from within. They rushed up and opened the door, and the scene that greeted them was . . . odd, to say the least.

Big Mac and Applejack were both attempting to restrain the . . . Pinkie’s evil twin? Bad Side?

“Try Dark Half, Twilight!”

“Oh, well, that works, thanks, Pink-” Twilight stopped and stared at Pinkie for a second, before sighing and shaking her head, reminding herself yet again not to question the Pink Party Pony.

Pinkie’s Dark Half screamed in rage and grabbed Big Mac with one hoof, shoving him away, sending him stumbling back nearly half a dozen feet. AJ tried to snare her with her lasso, but the dull pink pony caught the rope in her teeth and pulled, yanking the orange farm pony to the ground at her hooves. Her blue eyes blazed with disgust as she dodged an attempt by Rainbow Dash to catch her and hold her down.

“You get your bucking hooves away from me! I’m fine with some mare-on-mare action, Dash, but you ain’t my bucking type!”

“What?!” Rainbow exclaimed, jolting into the air. “What the hay are you talking about?!”

“Buck, you ponies are a buncha danged prudes, I swear!” Dark Half said, growling as she backed away. “Not one hoof touches me, ya buckin’ hear me?! Or I’ll snap it off and shove it up your flank!”

Big Mac, shaking his head to recover from his stumble, took a step forward, and those cold, hard blue eyes, like ice, locked onto his and he froze in place.

“Try it, big guy. I’ll bite your buckin’ . . . . Sh-horseapples! What’s a good replacement for that word?! Buckin’ Rating!”

“I know, right?!”

“Oh, buck, it’s you.” Dark Half grumbled as Pinkie bounced over beside her.

“Right-a-rooni, sis! Actually, you kinda remind me of Limestone. . . . “

“That’s because Limestone is what you could’ve been, if you hadn’t decided to be all bouncy and happy, all the buckin’ time!”

“Ah, but then where would the fun be in that?! Come on, Darkie, why not smile a little, hm?”

“Because there’s nothing to smile about here! You’re all a bunch of whiny, lovey-dovey saps! I fff-BUCK! BUCK! I bucking hate it here! I can’t even talk the way I bucking want!”

Pinkie drooped, backing away from her Dark Half as she spun, picking up a large oak table and throwing it across the room to shatter against the wall, in a firm display of what an Earth Pony could do when they weren’t holding back.

Twilight stepped forward, horn shimmering, and wrapped the pony in a strong barrier of purple magic. She spun inside the magical dome, glaring at the unicorn, who gulped, but faced her.

“Alright then . . . Dark Half. . . . “

“Mena.”

“What?”

“Ohhh, that’s clever, sis!” Pinkie said, grinning. “The last part of my full name, like how I use the first part of it! Nice choice!”

“Oh.” Twilight said, and then nodded, slowly. “Very well, Mena. What if I said I could send you somewhere that you could be what you wanted? Where you wouldn’t be tied down by the rules of our world?”

Mena paused, glaring mistrustfully. “How do I know you ain’t just gonna cart me off to buckin’ Tartarus, huh?”

“I promise that won’t happen, Mena.” Twilight said, hoping it was a promise that she could keep.

Mena stared at her for another long moment, pacing around the edge of the dome’s interior, before stopping and looking at Twilight from the depths of her tired, weary eyes. “You let me out of the cage, first.”

Twilight paused for a second, and Applejack spoke up, voicing the unicorn’s own thoughts. “I wouldn’t, if’n I was you, Twi. We cain’t trust her!”

Twilight looked the dull pink pony in the eyes and saw in them, for the first time, just how sad, how lost she was. She felt her heart break a little, and with a flicker of her horn, dropped the cage.

Mena stared at her for a moment, then stepped over to her, keeping eye contact the whole way.

Twilight leaned back a bit, and felt her friends tense around her, all but Pinkie. She wasn’t sure why, but that made her relax a bit. If Mena was really going to hurt her, she was sure Pinkie would know, and would stop her.

Mena stopped in front of her, glaring into her eyes. “You break your promise, and I will find a way out of there. I will find you, and I will bucking end you. Do you understand?”

Twilight took a breath and nodded, then stepped back. “Are you ready?”

Mena nodded, but Pinkie stepped forward. “I’ll miss you, sis!”

“Buck off, you freak! I ain’t your bucking sister!” She growled, angrily, and Pinkie stepped back, ears drooping again.

Twilight took a breath and her horn sparked to life. Lights began to dance around the dimmed pink pony, flickering like a rainbow as the air began to shimmer and warp. Hay, bits of splintered wood and other detritus from the floor of the barn flying around them as Mena was lifted into the air, surrounded by the shimmering light of the Aurora Borealis.

The others all stared on with awe and wonder as the warping air shifted and a portal, glowing with the same pulsating, multitoned light, opened up right underneath Mena.

She looked down, blinking, then back up at Twilight, a look of resigned annoyance on her face.

“Well, buck you too, ya-aaaAHHHH!!!!” She exclaimed as she fell through the portal and out of sight. With a bampf of displaced air, the lights gave a flash and then everything was back to normal. Twilight stood, shaking in exhaustion, lungs heaving.

Rarity and Fluttershy came over to check on her, voices laden with concern, while Applejack and Big Mac set to cleaning up the barn. Rainbow Dash blew out a breath and snorted.

“Good riddance!” The polychromatic pegasus said, before turning to help AJ and her brother.

Pinkie walked up to where her other half had disappeared and gave a low sigh, looking once more to you, dear readers.

I really hope she’ll be okay, and happy, wherever it is she landed. . . pfft, like I don’t know, right?
Well, sorry Clive, Graham, but, hey, look at it this way! At least your lives are about to get way more interesting!

With that, a grin and a giggle, the bouncy pink party pony hopped away to prepare a celebratory party for her friends.

Author's Note

Did a bit of rewriting on this, to pad it out and give it a bit more length.
Any oddities should be attributed to that. Otherwise, happy new chapter, and may the Elements be with you!