Our Inner Ponies 2: A Race Against Time

Thanks For The Group Separation Idea FeinesFabi. :)

"I do hope that the princess's plan works out well," Rarity was saying as we all walked down the Town Square. "Otherwise, we'll all probably get in trouble with Twilight and Fluttershy."

"Oh, speaking of that," Dash chimed in, "Spike, how's Twilight doing?"

"Yeah, and what about Fluttershy?" Zaria added. "Is she doin' okay, too?" I snickered a bit. Even though she was clearly Applejack now, Zaria still sounded different with that Southern accent.

"Well, Twilight's doing fine, and so is Fluttershy," Spike answered. "They both returned home after a long while, but they're recovering fast."

"Oh, that's good," I said in relief. "I was seriously worried that we hurt them or something. And that would be so bad, right? I couldn't even live with myself if we hurt those two poor p—"

"Yeah, we get it," Rainbow interrupted. "Geez. I think Pinkie's taking over you instead of the other way around." I laughed.

"Well, at least I'm sort of like her back home," I explained.

"Trust me on that. I'm the witness, and we both act random, Rainbow," Zaria agreed. I rolled my eyes playfully, blushing a bit.

"Now wait just a minute," Rarity said suddenly, pausing in her tracks. "It wouldn't be too big of a trouble if we all visited poor Twilight and Fluttershy, now would it?" Everyone seemed to be thinking about the idea.

"I think that sounds cool," Zaria finally said.

"Yeah, what's the harm?" Rainbow agreed.

"That sounds like fun!" I added. "Ooh! How about Spike and I visit Twilight, while the rest of you visit Fluttershy? Then we can meet up at Twilight's and switch!"

"Hmm, that sounds like a good plan," Rarity said, smiling. "I say we do it!"

"Sounds nice," Spike announced, suddenly climbing on my back. Whoa. I forgot that my back would be under a little pressure. Geez, this guy was getting heavier!

We all broke apart in separate ways; Fluttershy's group heading northeast, and my group heading just plain north. It was a very easy travel since all I had to do was walk straight. But there was also a disadvantage that I probably didn't have to worry about for a while: Pinkie was an extreme social butterfly and knew everyone. So how was I supposed to greet some random side character if one came rushing up to me with some kind of request or something? Shuddering, I pushed the thought aside and came across the big library in a matter of minutes. I grinned happily, memories rushing inside my head, then I slowly frowned and backed away from the tree.

"Uh, why don't you go in there Spike?" I suggested nervously, turning around to face him. "In the meantime, I'll be out here...practicing what I wanna say when I greet Twilight!" My lips stretched into a smile.

"Pssh. No you don't!" Spike objected, looking at me slyly. "Just a couple of years ago, you were Twilight, Maya!"

"Yeah. Two years," I whispered, gazing up at the tree sadly. Now I was starting to wish some random pony rushed up to me with a special request. I swallowed a small amount of shyness.

"Still. Do I have to go in there?"

"Well, you did agree to Rarity's idea, so...yeah," Spike answered.

"Ah, but I never said I promised anything, did I?" I pointed out. "I agreed, but I never promised. Beat that, Mr. Dragon." I regret talking sometimes. I soon felt a small amount of pain on my hair, and after screaming in agony, I found myself sprawled on the wooden floor of the library. That dang dragon!

"Spike, I'm gonna kill you," I growled through clenched teeth, standing up and glaring down at the baby dragon.

"Yeah, like I'm scared of a hyper pink pony," Spike replied, closing the door loudly.

"Have you ever seen Cupcakes?" I muttered to myself, grinning deviously.

"Spike, is that you?" A voice suddenly called. I froze in place. Looks like I'd be having a pretty uncomfortable chat for a few minutes. Or at least half an hour.

"Yeah, I'm back!" Spike responded. "And I brought back a friend."

I watched as the little dragon made his way up the stairs, asking if Twilight was feeling any better. Sucker, I thought as I quietly made my way outside. Once I was a few inches away from the door, I took off running. I didn't think I'd get far since I felt like I was crawling on my hands and knees at a rapid speed, but luckily I was Pinkie Pie. So I don't think I had to worry about anything for a while. About possibly a half an hour later, I was lying under a shady tree, thinking of who and what could possibly be behind this whole shredding of time.

"It has to be someone evil. Obviously," I said to myself, watching as a cloud floated across the sky. "Or maybe it's someone who's nice, but is partially evil who's doing this. Or perhaps it's an evil person who used to be good, but has trouble being nice and takes the anger out on ponies and—" I blinked.

Why was I talking to myself, and why was I doing it this fast?

Duh! You're Pinkie! A voice in my head pointed out. I had to laugh at my stupidity. I had forgotten about the little merge spell Princess Celestia had performed. Maybe I should've chosen another pony.

"Whoever's doing this, I hope they stop," I whispered to myself, turning on my left side. I noticed the breeze had picked up into a long wind. When it flowed past me, both my scalp and hooves felt tingly.

"Well that's weird," I announced loudly, slowly standing up. I nearly fell back down. Was this some new version of a Pinkie Sense, or was this wind doing all of the tingles? I felt the now strong wind lift my poofy pink hair and tail, and my back hurt like hell!

Maybe you should get out of this wind, a voice advised in my ear. I didn't know if it was Pinkie's subconscious or an actual ghost, but I listened to the advice and scurried away from the wind. But it seemed to follow me nonstop!

"Quit it!" I shrieked, feeling silly for yelling at the air. I heard shrill laughter behind me. I turned to see two fillies laughing and pointing at me. Gee, I never saw those side characters before. How did that one with the yellow mane earn a pogo-stick cutie mark?

"Wait till I tell Rosebud about this!" The one with the lilac mane cried, falling on the ground giggling. Rosebud? I thought in confusion. This isn't Citizen Kane!

"I know!" The filly with the pogo-stick cutie mark agreed. "What a freaky loon!" I glared at both of them, cheeks burning.

"Shut up!" I screamed at them. They abruptly stopped laughing and stared at me in shock. I gave them a look.

"Don't mess with Pinkie Pie, got it?" I snapped in a sassy voice, forcing back a laugh at how I sounded. They were still staring at me. I blinked and walked toward them.

"Hello?" I asked slowly, raising an eyebrow. "Earth to annoying fillies?" The two little ponies didn't respond to me. They looked...frozen! I backed away until I was scurrying backwards and hit the tree. My left eye started twitching and I noticed that my tail was slowly moving in circles all on its own.

"Freaky with a capital F!" I cried, looking around nervously. "Maybe I shouldn't have left Spike..." The wind began tickling my neck until I heard some ghostly voice whisper Free me...!

I covered my eyes and tried to relax, but the voice continued to speak.

Please...help...me...! I slowly opened my eyes, shaking like mad.

I can see you, Maya! Oh crap! That did it! I took off running like a chicken avoiding getting its head chopped off. (Don't ask. I'm in Pinkie's body, remember?) I kept sprinting until I felt tired. When I had my energy back, I took off running again. I didn't stop until I ran into something. Something hard. I could hear it say, "Aww, Pinkie! Really?" My eyes snapped into focus and my head shot up. Uh oh!