Originality

"Somepony's making balloon animals!" said Rainbow Dash. This is where Pinkie Pie's previous life had ended, replaced with a more dark and sinister nightmare. Pinkie Pie couldn't hold it any longer. She just couldn't. And her lack of patience was the cause of her eternal sentence to the mirror pool. There are many rumors and myths about the Otherplace, all of them but one are just mindless speculation.

The legend of the mirror pool, like the pool itself, is only the shiny first half of the legend. The full legend, like the pools depths, is a dark and twisted poem. A warning, to any who may use it's depths thinking only good will come of its sparkling, reflective waters. It's called... The Otherplace...

The Otherplace

Where the brambles are thickest, there you will find,
A pond beyond the most twisted of vines
And into her own reflection she stared,
Yearning for one whose reflection she shared,
And solemnly sweared not to be scared,
At the prospect of being doubly mared,
But after she found of this second of her,
Then she decided she just needed more,
But she found that when it was all said and done,
That she ended up with a hundred, instead of just one,
Then stuck in a room staring at her future demise,
An impatient pegasus brought her to-
The Otherplace... The place where the non perfects go.

Hi, my name's Pinkamena Diane Pie, but you can just call me Pinkie. I've been through a lot, and that's a- WHAM sorry about that interruption, ahem, that's a fact. I've been through so much, that I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to go back to my bubbly happy self.

I'm here to tell you about my story. And well, I hope someone from Equestria will see this, and if they do... That clone won't know what's coming.

I woke up in a gray room, filled with office supplies. Dust was scattered over the desk, the chair was hastily shoved to the side, like somepony had left the room in a hurry. A phone was left on the carpet. There was no color, there was no wind, it was quiet. I got up and reached for the phone, but I was repelled from the device by the horrible static on its screen.

I went to try and open the door, but it was locked. I panicked, and pounded on the door, hoping the room's doors would open eventually. I soon realized that it would not be so simple. It was when I started pondering on what I should do that I saw a note on the desk. I read it in hopes that it could help me to escape.

Of mayors and papers and twisted fates
Of claws from a nest and a horrible place
A pony pondering their existence will face
A monster in the Otherplace

I assumed nothing of the note, and carried on looking through baskets for any kind of clues I could find, when I started thinking about my current predicament. "Why am I here? Is this really what's behind the Otherplace? Do I even exist? Is this a dream?" I thought.

I suddenly jumped as I heard scratching at the door. I didn't know what to do, and I started freaking out. I started looking for any exit I could find, but to no avail, there was no exit. I saw that the phone didn't have static on it's screen anymore, and I found that it was working, so in a desperate attempt to survive I talked into the phone.

"Please anypony, help me! I can hear scratching at the door... It's getting louder! It's so dark, it's so cold! Hello? Is anypony there?!'' I exclaimed to the phone.

It didn't respond. I put the phone down and learned that help wasn't coming anytime soon.

I looked for the nearest hiding place, and found that there was a space underneath a file holder. I dashed under it, hoping it wouldn't see me. I saw the door open, and saw only blood stained claws. They were covered in tall sharp black feathers. I heard a piercing shriek come from that monstrosity... I stopped breathing.

It looked under the desk and saw a stallion. It teared him to shreds, until all that remained was blood. I was horrified at the sight, and after shrieking again, it walked away. I resumed breathing.

I quickly walked out the door, making sure not to make any noise. I saw a hallway, with thousands of doors side to side. The carpet was stained with a red substance, and I swore I could see the monster's claw prints, freshly walked upon.

I trotted on the carpet, making sure that if anything decided to attack me, I would be ready to escape.

When I was walking across the hallway, I heard a door slowly creak open, and I jumped from the sound. I dashed across the hallway, and I could hear something running towards me, I ran faster, the footsteps were getting closer. I panicked, and I tried and tried to escape what was coming towards me and saw that the door to the staircase closed right in front of me. I closed my eyes.

But nothing happened. I opened my eyes to see a filly doll. It was yellow with red hair, and a bow. It's eyes were buttons. "It's okay. I didn't mean to scare ya," said the doll. "Name's Apple Bloom. Nice to meet ya.'' I was very surprised to see the doll say that it was Apple Bloom. I slowly backed away.

"Huh? What's the problem?" asked Apple Bloom. "Ohhh, you're from THERE aren't you! Well? How's it up there with Celestia? Isn't it NICE?! Isn't it GREAT?!" the doll was very angry now, it was stomping on the carpet.

"W-w-what do you m-m-mean?'' I stuttered. I accidentally hit my back against the door, I had backed away too much, and that just made the doll angrier.

"WHAT DO I MEAN?!" the doll shouted, getting closer to me. "I'VE BEEN STUCK IN THIS DOLL SINCE I WAS BORN! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE BEING STUCK HERE!?"

"Yes, I do," I said. The dolls' attitude changed instantaneously. "I was sent to the mirror pool by my friends, who thought I was a clone. I'm sorry that you've been stuck here, I shouldn't have acted that way. I just had an encounter with that bird thing, and it really gave me a bad feeling about this place,'' I said, shuddering about how that bird monster killed that stallion.

"Oh. I thought you were one of those sun-having VISITORS," she said. "They always fail the first test."

I was confused. "What's the first test?" I asked.

"It's that thing you saw before," she explained. "The monsters here are usually just normal. Although the more rarer of them accustom to their victim's greatest fears." I wasn't afraid of birds, although I wouldn't be surprised if that stallion was.

"The most important ones are called dream holders. They try to turn you against your friends, and then yourself. They're pretty rare, so you'll have to be very unlucky to see one," she added.

"And you wanna leave the Otherplace, I presume?'' I nodded. "Well, you'll have to face most of em, but I'll come with you for a couple of the easy ones, okay?'' I agreed.

This is where I started my journey. My journey to escape the Otherplace... The place where the non-perfects go.