Mud clung to the two mares' hooves and they ran, the sound of their terrified sprinting muffled by the soft forest’s underbelly. The only thing they could really hear were the beating of their hearts, and when the mare behind Pinkie Pie would stumble and let out a squeak in fear. With how thick the mud was they had left a trail behind them of heart shaped hoof marks. Thankfully as Pinkie's companion confirmed, with the constant shifting of the forest the path they forged would be hidden again within the hour, the mire consuming the traces and noises they made in their flee. Pinkie's lungs strained with every breath, she had never ran this far or for this long, however her companion was in worse shape. Behind her followed one of her duplicates. The pony looked like the rest of them, however this Pinkie was slightly different from the mindless mob that were- had been overflowing the streets of the small village. It seemed like they had been the only two pink ponies that had caught wind of what eradication had happened inside the small town. Pinkie Pie was lucky she wasn't alone, this world was so different from her own, but knew she after a while of running she wouldn't be able to anymore. As the thought crossed her mind it was quickly realized as the neon pony tripped. There was a splat followed by a quiet squeak as she fell snout first into the Everfrees damp floor. The thud was muffled, the mud was thick enough to cover up the noise, regardless of that the sudden noise made them both still froze - terrified to move. Pinkie stared down at her companion as she slowly lifted up her head, both of their ears had perked up. In the silence they listened, breathlessly.

Over the past hour, the two ponies had hid on the outskirts of town. Although Pinkie Pie wanted to run and leave immediately the two were glued in place by a morbid fascination. They watched as pink sparks flew into the sky from the center of town. They were almost like fireworks, flashing into the air before being swept away into the slowly darkening sky. Pinkie Pie had never left the safety of the dark trees unlike her companion who had prowled the city streets for a while longer. They had only been together for maybe an hour. They had met at the cusp of sweet apple acres, the pastel pink party pony flagged her down and ushered her into the safety of the trees. Now they lay low in the quiet deep within the thickets, avoiding the predators that might stalk in the fog and brambles just out of sight.
The two did not linger long when they met, Pinkie Pies' clone companion had seen what was happening in the city, and the few words she shared could get out with what she saw filled Pinkie with more dread then she could have ever imagined. The fight for survival now tired them more together than being the same pony would have already been. The pink pony had a heavy limp from her back leg. She winced with some steps she took. It didn't help that the rope burn from a lassos bite became more and more irritated - as red as the brightest apple. The neon Pinkie had explained that they… The rest of them, they had been forcefully wrangled up into the town square, being bucked and pushed into the town hall. Rainbow dash would chance them in and any stranglers the others would bring them in. Pinkie had hid on the roof, lucky that none of the pegasus had seen her, and through the large windows she watched as and one by one were getting picked off. A purple unicorn, one she didn't say the name of, cast spell after spell making them explode, and drift up into the sky turning into the fireworks that they watched from the thickets not long ago. After the shock of the first couple, Pinkie had lost her grip on the roof and fell directly onto another unicorn she called Rarity. She had feared for her life and did the only thing she could, run. One of the ponies who kept watch outside saw her try to run and she… Pinkie hadn’t elaborated, but whatever encounter had occurred led to the circled of raw skin that had now started to bleed.
When the other Pinkie had explained it, Pinkie Pie felt like all of her nightmares had come true. Although she was grateful to have a companion and she wasn't alone, a small part of her wished she never had the confirmation that.. The other Pinkie’s they…

“Can we… stop…” the pink pony wheezed out - she made a noise like a balloon deflating. She wiggled in the mud, in a slight bit of pain, trying to look up at Pinkie Pie. The pastel pony took a second to respond, her ears were still perked up trying to deduce if they could rest for a moment. The forest remained quiet, so the party pony acquiesced and trotted over. She feared being caught up to, but at this point they should be in the clear. Pinkie Pie extended a muddied hoof, pulling the other Pinkie out of the murky forest floor. Once fully off the ground, she took a moment to steady herself. They walked a couple paces away. The pastel pony was confused but before she could ask where Pinkie was going her question was answered as she shook all the mud off of herself like a dog. Turning back around, she bounced over to her companion keeping her injured leg just barely off the ground. For a moment, the neon pink pony looked confused as if she was waiting for Pinkie Pie to do the same. When no action came a tense silence was allowed to fall between them. The two Pies stood next to each other, looking back on where they had come from. There had been some fog before, but now that Celestia's sun had set it really permeated the area around them. If the fog were any thicker they wouldn't be able to see the floor below them. Pinkie pie shivered, not realizing how cold it had gotten. The other pie leaned in close to her in an attempt to warm them both up, but instead accidentally started the pastel pony. They stared at each other, there was a question on both of their minds. Although the pastel pony hesitated to ask, the other Pinkie seemed to speak it word for word.

“Ummmm, Pinkie promise you wont be mad when I ask BUUUUT you are a Pinkie pie just like me or her or her or her,” the pink pony moved her hooves around in the air as if the other Pinkies in Ponyville were there with them, “I think the baby pink is a great color and I think Rarity - well my rarity - would be apsototallutly obsessed with it but you know!” Pinkie had stopped talking, she didn't need to finish that thought, the two of them knew exactly what was implied.
“I'm not too sure…” The party pony started, she put a hoof up to her face to think, accidentally getting mud into her coily
hair, “I mean, I came from the pond like you did right?”

Pinkie nodded, So the party pony continued, “Earlier you said something about your Rarity, so the pony you met wasn't her?”

“Nada nada! Looked a lot like her though! Save voice, same pretty pretty purple hair, same temper too… but my Rarity wouldn’t have been such a meanie pants!” she said with a huff.

“So that means we're probably from a different world right? I knew a pony who knew a unicorn who knew another unicorn who said it was possible for that to happen!!”

“So it wouldn't really thaaaat big of a stretch to guestimate that you might be from really really reaaaaally far away rather than from wherever everypony else came from?” Pinkie finished the thought for her with a large grin. The party pony cocked her head to the side, the party banners lodged in her hair ruffled against each other, and the pinkie pie across the way followed suit doing the same.

“Mmmm I think that makes sense! But that's a big leap to take, but if we were the same then… Pinkie sense?” the neon pony beamed, moving her front hoof forward to show it trembling slightly. That pinkie sense does really come in handy..

“Okie dokie lokie! That sounds just about right to me!” Both Pinkie’s now beamed.
The neon pony wrapped a somehow clean leg tightly around her neck. She was so close her snout was pressed into the girl's pastel mane.

“I wonder if this world is all swippy swappy from mine then too? I know that town was all sorts of mixed up from the one I lived in. I'm so super duper glad the apple farm was out here though” The party pony gave her pinkie counterpart a hug back, “Im soooo very lucky I was able to find you!!!” she said with a giggle. When both ponies pulled away, Pinkie Pie started to trot forward scanning the forest in front of her, Pinkie bounced alongside her, each landing creating a large heart mark in the mud. She managed to keep her balance even on only three legs.

“My knees are aching watching that.” The pastel pony thought.

“For me everything was right where I remember it! I'm sure after a little while we’ll go home! Me and my best friends all live in Ponyville!” pinkie leaned in close and whispered and squealed somehow, “it looks EXACTLY like this one” The pink pony snapped back into place before continuing, “ Its kinda nice because I was able to go on my normal route out of town to visit one of my friends hehehe!! Buuuut almost all my friends live there too!!! There's Cranky, Derpy, Berry Punch, Roseluck and Daisy and Lily, and Cheerilee, then of course Mr. and Mrs. Cake… and my bestest friends of all time!!!
Applejack and Fluttershy and - Oh hehehe! I don't even need to go on, I already know you know who I'm talking about heheh!!”

The connection the Pastel pony had felt slightly severed, they aren't as similar as she had hoped. “Welllll, you might have to, the only names I recognize there are the Cakes!”
Pinkie let out a loud gasp, “ WHAT!!! There's a world out there where i don't even know my bestest of friends???” She had grabbed the ponies face and squished it, she let out a sad whinny and then sighed. “Well let me get you started, they are not like those meanie bobeanies back there.”

“I sure hope so! Those grumps were doing terrible things to all of them- all of us!” Pinkie corrected herself with a nervous smile. She paced forward a couple more steps, then froze. She swiftly shot back around on her hooves and put her front legs on the other ponies shoulders “We should have code names!!!”

“Code names?”

“Yeah! There's a Pinkie Pie in this world already right?? I heard those ponies say something like that, and because we're both Pinkie Pies it could cause some trouble! And…” the pony shuttered, “If there are three pink party ponies prancing from place to place named Pinkie Pie they might find out, and I think they would not be happy.”
The neon pony had a devious smile on her face. “I like you, I like me, this is why we should be in charge of plans, nobody plans better than a pie!” Pinkie sung out those words. The pastel pony removed her hooves from the pony’s shoulders and stepped back. The neon pony rubbed her hooves together and hopped forward a couple paces. She used her tail as a broom, shooing away some thorn riddled vines and branches then started digging in the ground. No, she wasn't digging, she was messily trying to come up with a good name by writing them all out in the mud? The pastel pony watched Pinkie for a moment and then looked away, her focus lost from the mess her counterpart was in the middle of onto something else. Something that felt so, so far away.

The Pies were the best planners, Pinkie was right. Somehow though, the complement felt like it wasn't for her - not that she didn't appreciate it of course! But… when she's heard that it was never for her, or at least even if it was it shouldn't have been for her. At least where she was from there was someone who was better… as she tried to remember more and more, she started to feel like more and more was missing. Not just in her memory, that already shook her with the large gaps that were forming, but it felt as if all the contents of the inside of her body were just… gone. She had already felt a bit alone, but now the weight of everything really started to crush her. She could feel it all really setting in, this wasn't just some weird messed up dream, this isn't even a nightmare. It was all real. Even with her newfound friend with her she still felt so alone, and the silence forced her to take it all in. After all, there's only so much you can do to comfort yourself. The party pony took a shallow breath in through her teeth, it felt freezing. Actually no, not just freezing but beyond cold - no.. that doesn't even feel right either. Pinkie Pie herself was already cold inside, like over the past couple hours every single ounce of life fizzled off and away. The idea frightened her, both of them. Pinkie Pie herself wasn't even sure what she was missing, and yet…

Pinkie Pie felt something run down her cheek, and moved a hoof up to wipe it away. It was a single tear. She made a small noise, trying to express one of the flurry of emotions that swam bounced around in her. Grief? Sadness? Fear? Saderifear???? She sighed, trying to relinquish everything that was inside of her, it didn't really help. She shook her head as a last ditch effort to try to clear her thoughts, and when she was done she looked up to see her neon twin sprawled out in the mud. In front of her was a complex diagram that split off into tens to possibly a hundred of small bubbles and notes, annotations upon annotations. She had a pen tucked behind her ear that wasn't there before, her tongue lazily hung out the side of her mouth. Two of her four of her scribbled into the muck, she looked like a filly trying to hoof paint. The thoughts she had had tucked themselves away to be interrogated later, allowing Pinkie Pie to fully take in the chaos that was in front of her.

“I'VE GOT IT!!!” so bewildered by the sudden shout that she was almost shaken off her hooves. “I've picked out the perfect codename for myself! Get ready, because you're going to need to be! If i combine the suffix from here-” pinkie hopped to where the name was, wiped it out of existence, “- and the synonym from here,” she repeated the motion, destroying the work she had done,”you add the Y and carry it over… you get the perfect name……… Binkie Bye.” The pony stood on her hind legs and took a bow, Pinkie Pie clapped in response. Pinkie- Binkie Bye laded back down with a splash, anything that had been readable was gone. “Oooo your turn your turn! You have to have thought of a good one by now!”
Pinkie Pie panicked. She had not even graced the thought of a code name past the suggestion of it, and she was the one who did that! Her eyes darted around the murky forest, scanning for ideas. “Ummmmmmmmm,”

”Think Pinkie think!!! Behind the Binkie Bye, what was there? There were some tree stumps and moss and rocks and mud and steak posts with a sign and - wait a second!”

“Siiiteak, Steak Diane. Yep! Not Sign Diane. That would be a silly name.” She laughed some, and then waited for the others' response. There was a long silence between the two, the neon ponies bright blue eyes seemed to stare into the pastel pony’s soul.

“That might be the most perfericifc name ever!!!!!!”

As she cheered she bounced in place, higher than she had prior, splashing mud all over the two of them. “Oops, I miiight’ve gotten a teensy bit excited.” With that, the two Pinkies started to laugh, the pastel pony walking over to her counterpart to lean on as she caught her breath. she-
Something made a noise behind them.

They froze. Out of the thick fog they heard a crack come from behind them, it sounded far away, but it echoed off of every tree. Then another, slightly closer. The small moment of joy the two had shared was vanquished in an instant. They were being followed.

“You'll be okay, right??” Pinkie Pie whispered to her counterpart. Binkie Bye nodded in response, and in an instant the two began to run. Binkie Bye trailed behind Pinkie Pie following her trail of colorful banners, though thanks to her injured leg made it a troublesome task. They kept going and going before having to halt to a stop. In front of them was a deep and near endless bayou. Its water a dark green covered in algae, dead trees stuck out through it only giving a glimpse of its depths. Neither could possibly even imagine how deep it was. Thankfully for them, there was two pathways that stretched around the bayou - however thanks to the fog, there was almost no ways of telling where they led. One to the right, and one to the left. Neither way looked safe, but thankfully there was a weathered steak post stuck in the ground, it was loose in the soil, a sign stuck to indicated that the path was the way through the swamp. Binkie Bye was starting to hyperventilate, Pinkie had never seen somepony so panicked. Her eyes darted around, it was difficult to tell what Binkie was thinking, but whatever it was it wasn't good. Pinkie tried to put a hoof on her and try to calm her down. The action led to a strange response from Binkie, her eyes bored into her soul. Her mouth was pressed down into a hard line, a look on her face that was almost cartoonish, one Pinkie knew she couldn't make even if she tried.her eyes slowly shift to path behind them.

“We're going to have to split up, okay?” the words shot out of her mouth sharply, her voice barely a whisper.

“What!? Are you crazy!!”

“I'll see you on the other side right?”

“Wa-”

“Hello? Who's there?” the voice echoed out from behind them. They couldn't see who it was, it seemed like they were using some sort of light spell, Binkie looked and Pinkie intensely, and then wrapped her arms around her. Before Pinkie could do anything, the other pony managed to lift her up off the ground, like she was only a sack of potatoes and tossed her down the left bath.

“I'M OVER HERE.”

She never passed her, going down the other path. There was a moment of pause, then the thunderous roar of hooves.

“Dagnabbit I knew I let one get away! Twilight over here.” she didn't even know there were two of them. Soon the light caught up to her, Pinkie held her breath, and like she wasn't even there it vanished into the fog.

“I'll see you soon.”

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That was three days ago. Pinkie- Steak Diane has not seen Binkie Bye sense then. The pony had made her way through the path, on the other side there was a land bridge that nearly led straight through the rest of the forest. On the other side she was met with a vast open desert. After two days of travel, she found herself stumbling into a vast plentiful applefield. The party pony had been really taken aback by it, she remembered in her home world this was where some of her buffalo friends lived. She had traveled this far south for a young calves birthday party and would stay for awhile, it was a blast. Or… at least she thinks it was. As she continued her trek the apple orchard seemed to stretch on so long it seemed almost never ending. Each sandy hill is spotted with green and red. Pinkie didn't know much about plants but it felt weirdly unnatural. She followed the outskirts of the forest for a while, the rows of well maintained and pruned trees grew more and more disheveled, until she got to a part where it had gotten out of hand. Trees grew crooked and intertwined, mushy apples littering the ground, as well as piles of damaged twisted branches. There were some trees growing past where their border had been set, creeping slowly across the desert. Steak Diane assumed that nopony came out this far. The sun had started to rise, knowing she was exposed she ducked into the trees, and began to wander around. If she remembered correctly there was a town to the west of the buffalo's land. It was small though, so it might be easy to avoid. Steak Diane kept walking as she was trying to figure out where she should go next, she wanted to stay close to the forest to wait for Binkie Bye but far enough to not be found by those ponies at least until she can figure a way to sneak into Ponyville. She had already begun to plan her way home. Her thoughts were more like a kaleidoscope than anything coherent. Fragmented and shattered memories that could be put back together, but were clouded in a thick fog of colors and shapes Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't even notice that the trees she passed by seemed to look even more mangled than the ones in the everfree.Thinking too hard made the party pony’s head spin, it was like she just got a whiff of a strong chemical cleaner. She almost felt nauseous and the memories in her head swam faster.

“It's all swimmy, down the drain… au wuh!” Steak Diane suddenly tripped as she spoke, had she really not been paying enough attention? The pony shot up, desperately trying to wipe the sand out of her eyes - they stung, the only relief she felt came from the tears that were rolling down her face. She blinked, then again, and again. At first it was because of the sand, but then to try to comprehend what stood in front of her. There was a small cottage, tangled roots blotted out the sky above it. She took a step closer.

“What the hay… who would build a cottage this far out?” The pony took a couple steps closer, the whole house was built out of silver greywood, a tree not common to this part of Equestria, or at least not not her Equestria. There were two steps that led onto the deck, Steak Diane could tell that it was a rush to put the building together: nails stuck out from some parts of the wood, the slots where there would be windows stood empty and cold. The porch was littered with holes, they were rather large.. She assumed they were from apples falling, it must've taken a lot of time to actually break the wood. Standing in front of her was the maw of the building. The door was open, swung inwards, beckoning her to go inside. Steak Diane hesitated for a moment, before her mind could catch up to her body, she trotted forward.

“Hellooooooo~? P-Pinkie delivery?” she called out into the dark building, but the only thing that responded was silence. “Oookay Pinkie, how about we take a looksy around…” Steak Diane moved her hoof against the entryways wall, looking for a light switch. Although she was not scared, that didn't mean that it couldn't be possibly any tenser. The pony let out an uncomfortable chuckle before finally clicking a knob on the wall with her hoof. There was a slight ticking for a moment before the lights stirred to life from their slumber. Now actually looking around, the cabin resemble more of a shed than a home. The walls had no insulation, wires were tapped to wood, running straight to a light fixed at the center of the room. Pushed against a wall in the far most corner was a light green couch, some dark stains were soaked into the corner of it, matching some on the wall. There was a large hole in the top of the roof, seems like it was unfinished, letting some of the thick gnarly branches invade their ways inside. They made the abandoned place feel slightly more alive, but less safe. The center of the floor there were crates, cardboard boxes, and shipping pallets. Lined up against the walls next to the door on either side were tons of spare tools. Most of them were rusted, a rake sat without a handle and there was a broken trowel lying on the floor. Tucked away in the back corner sat a rusty axe next to some lazily chopped firewood.

“Wait, why would you need firewood if you live in a desert! It's hot enough!” Steak asked out loud to herself. She shrugged, and trotted across the corner where the axe lay. It was propped up against a gift box. It looked like it had been there for a long while, covered in a thick layer of dust. Without any consideration,and then began to dust it off, using her tail as a broom. And brought it back outside so that she could open and see what's inside. The morning sun started to poke through holes in the trees, and as she stared at the package she began to think out loud.

“Hmmmm,this must've been out here for a long time! Who would leave a gift out like this… such a waste of a pretty pink bow… It would be kind of rude for me to open it, its tag doesn't say Pinkie on it.” she flipped over the tag, its name was just addressed with an apple. “Does not have a pie on it either. Poor pony, missing out on their gift. I wonder why nopony is out here!” Steak Diane flopped down onto her rump and put a hoof to her chin. “I guess they could have built it and then realized they didn't need it?” her eyes drifted to the unfinished roof then shook her head. “Youd think they'd at least finish the roof! It's like leaving a single bite of ice cream at the bottom of your sunday, you gotta have that last bite! You wouldn't want to leave it sad and alone!”

The party pony let out a small giggle that dissipated slowly. Her eyes dragged themself to the Porch in front of her and sighed. She worried for Binkie Bye, but there wasn't much she could do about it now. She just hoped that she would find her way to… wherever she is. The pony absentmindedly started to play with her hair as she thought back to then. Maybe she should have grabbed her, and kept her with her? Maybe she should have distracted those ponies. Although she wasn't brave enough, and even if she was she's not all too strong. Although she remembers dragging her party cannon around all the time it wasn't actually all that heavy. it only got bad when it was.. Hold on.

Steak Diane shot up, she remembered something! A party cannon? Yeah, yeah! She… she had one! Lets see now, what else… she remembers that… the banners in her hair were from it? No, no, she consciously tangled them into her hair every morning. That sounded right? That sounds right? Think Pinkie think! The pink pony was pacing around faster.
Oh yeah! Her cutie mark, that's a good place to start. How did she get it again…? The mark on her flank was different from the Pinkies, and Binkie’s too. All of theirs were various balloons, all different shapes and sizes. The most common were two blue ones and a yellow one! However much like well, every part of her was different from everpony else. Hers was a blue balloon animal that looked like a dog, and party banners were strung above it, matching the ones that hung in her hair. That was it - she started wearing them when she got it! What was a harder task to remember, however she can vaguely make out the scene in her mind: she stands in front of a crowd, composed of a bunch of foals! She remembers juggling some toys in her hooves, and the foals that sat in front of her were laughing and aweing! A warmth spread throughout the pony’s chest as the memories bled back. The atmosphere was a warm yellow and deep pink. The sound of joy comforted her like a blanket on a cold day, with each successful toss it felt like she was doing it all again. She was getting the attention she had never really had all again. She was bringing joy to a joyless place, bringing hope to hopeless colts, and bringing laughter to the fillies she grew up around. The filly looked down, she had been balancing on her hind legs, so small she barely stood off the ground. The pink party pony felt a sense of pride, of accomplishment, she had never remembered ever being happier. Pinkie knew there was only one thing that could make this better - the thing that made everything better. She turned her head to look and…

There was nothing. Steak Diane stood on the porch, a warm breeze brought her back to reality, sand kicking back up onto the porch and almost getting into her eyes. The door creaked on its hinges letting out a desperate squeak that grated on the mare's ears. There was no one there, just a black void. Was there even supposed to be anypony there? Steak Diane wasn't sure.

The pony had spent the next hour, digging through boxes, and ended up propping up one of the pallets against the empty window frame adjacent to where the couch was. It didn't block much of the sand, but it did help slightly. The pony took a small walk around the building, listening intently for the sound of anypony. Luckily she was met with an empty silence. After a while, she trekked her way back inside, closing the door behind her. The party pony hadn't actually rested in days, her limbs ached and screamed for rest. It wasn't comfortable, but there wasn't anypony else around, so, Steak Diane curled up on the couch, and drifted off into sleep.

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Over the next two weeks, she dreamed of that exact moment where she got her cutie mark, again and again - waking up just on the cusp of a realization. The thing she was searching for in her memory… she couldn't put the label on anymore. She didn't even know what she was looking for, just replaced with a painful sense of desire. It felt like she was almost invading someone else's memories at certain times. The life she was living was so different from those little fillies that she grew distant. It would have been distressing if it didn't feel so depersonalized. She hadn't seen herself in the two weeks, but Steak Diane believes that if she were to look in a mirror she might not know the pony looking back at her.
At least, she had a routine, a path to follow to keep herself sane. Steak Diane would wake up at dawn, and clean up any sand that had been swept in from the night's breeze. She would then walk outside with a pair of loppers and a pole saw and trim up the overgrown trees. It was something that could very easily blow her cover, but in her head she justified it as a thank you for letting her sulk in their storage cabin. At least she would keep it clean. The extra branches she had she would drag to where she figured was the center of the orchard and drop them off. Early in the morning nopony would have made it out that far yet so she could get away with the act. Steak Diane would return the apples too, she would take a couple to eat of course! Other than the two or three she made an active attempt to try not to take away too much from the harvest these ponies depended on. It made her feel incredibly guilty, but it wasn't as bad as eating mud in the everfree, and certainly better than starving! At least that she could justify. The taste of apples lingered on her tongue almost constantly, she grew tired of it but she didn't want to risk traveling out too far and getting caught on her way into town to get anything else. When she was thirsty she was able to kick on the water pump that had been buried in tree roots out front of the shed. She would spend most of the day walking around out the vast desert, trying to get an understanding of the land. As the moon began to rise she would return back to the shed and go to sleep.

After day fourteen Steak Diane couldn't remember what she was dreaming of, to her it seemed more like a distant fantasy than a memory. At night she would feel a deep longing in her heart, and not be able to place why it was there. She could remember her friend Binkie Bye and that they looked similar, and that they were running from a purple unicorn who was going to exterminate them. However when she tried to remember how they met the feeling of loneliness only grew more. At least during the day she could sing and joke, not really worried about anyone hearing her within the sandy dunes or the trees when the wind blew harshly and sung its song. Her routine was never shaken, doing the same activities every day. The cycle she had made for comfort just faded into mundanity. When she reentered the shed to rest at night, she would grow quiet and mindful as if she was sleeping in a graveyard. Although the shed provided shelter it was no home. And much like her dreams being in the building brought her guilt, it left her with the burden like she was sleeping in a dead man's bed. At least she fell asleep quickly, and that always left her with a slight smile on her face.
Tonight had been the seventeenth day in the orchard, her dreams greeted her with a new sight. It started off the same, the small filly stood on her hind legs juggling a toy boat and a couple balls. She could feel that same strange large grin plastered on her face. She shut her eyes, feeling the joy start to take hold of her body before an alien noise creaked its way out of the audience.

The pastel pink pony opened her eyes to see there was a new filly in the room. She sat in the center in the entourage. Her coat was a pastel blue, her hair even lighter. The pony watched with unmoving eyes. The sudden change caused the pink pony to stumble for a moment. Only barely able to catch all the toys she had flung into the air. The crowd of foals cheered, their joy recapturing the pony’s attention. She had caught each toy in her hair, then set each of them on the floor. She took a very dramatic bow then cleared her throat.

“Woo!! Alright I have a very very very very very funny joke for you!” the party pony squealed out, “what is a foot tall, stands on four legs, and likes to YELL A LOT!!!!”

The foals giggled, an older one in the group raised his hoof at the same time the pastel blue one had stood to speak, but the colt got his words out first, “Steak Diane I think it's you!”

“Nooooooo, but close! Its a gramophone!” Steak Diane dropped down onto all fours and began to spin her tail like a handle, winding herself up. She took in a large breath of air, preparing to belt out her punchline, but as she did no noise left her mouth. Steak Diane looked surprised, looking around the room.

Everypony stood still, she blinked, and suddenly one of the ponies in the crowd was missing. Startled, Steak Diane took a step back, throwing her head around to see that there was nopony behind her, just a blank wall. Usually at that point she would wake up but this time there would be no sunrise to greet her. She blinked, before turning back around to be face to face with a tall, dark midnight blue pony.

“Wowwie you're so tall!” the filly exclaimed, a large smile across her face. The strange pony’s hair danced in the stagnant, frozen air. It whisked across her face, shrouding the pony’s eyes as if they were a vale. Small stars fluttered to and fro, they almost seemed like they were searching for something unfathomable and lost to the cosmos itself.
“Pinkie Pie?”

Deafening silence. Her breath caught in her throat. “I… I almost forgot. How did you…” the filly winced, taking a shaken step back. A flurry of emotions suddenly flooded over her like she was being crushed by wave after wave. It was almost like she was drowning. The tall pony loomed over her, unmoving. She was completely encased in her shadow, the only light blotted out. Then her horn ignited.

Steak Diane yelped and ran out of the room as fast as she could. She slid underneath the large beast’s body and out the front door. Her peers' heads did not even turn, but the large pony’s did. She let out a loud growl. Steak Diane didn't look back and just ran. She had picked up so much speed that legs were almost like that from a cartoon, spinning endlessly. Once she was far enough away from the building she looked back, both to see if she was being followed but also to try to figure out where she had actually been. For the life of her she couldn't name the building she saw in her dream every night. However there was nothing behind her, nopony, no signage or anything. She felt her chest rise and fall faster, and faster. Panic filling her tiny body, all she wanted to do was wake up! Steak Diane slapped her face, trying to cause enough pain to wake up. After the first slap though she shut her eyes and whined in pain. When she opened then her breath caught in her throat. Not because she had woken up, no, instead she was met by something that could only change a tense dream into a nightmare. The night sky in front of her began to shift and move, as if it was a living being. A pair of solid white glowing eyes opened, even though they had no iris, she could feel them stare directly at her.

“Wake up, wakie wakie eggs and quakey!!”

“Pinkie Pie.” the voice boomed, it shook the ground the filly stood on, she never felt smaller.

“Wake up wake up it's time to play, there's no time to sleep the day away.” the foal sung out with a tremble. Her voice was meek, barely audible, she closed her eyes and scrunched up her nose.

“Pinkie Pie! Do not attempt to wake yourself!” the voice boomed, it was so loud it caused the little foal to fall backwards, curling up in on herself.

“Steaky it's time to wakey!” the foal screamed, but even in her loudest volume, it still came out like a whisper. She had never felt so small, so weak, so scared. She felt just like…

Steak Diane's eyes shot open. There was a crunch from somepony outside the shed.

Author's Note

hiiiii i hope yall like this one :D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! writing for pinkie pie is soooo fun!!!!!!