“Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!” They all screamed. My head was starting to ache terribly, and we had yet to think of an idea to find the real Pinkie that wasn’t completely foalish. Just what was Pinkie thinking when she used that magic pool to clone herself? I know she only wanted to have fun with all of us at the same time, but this was anything but fun.
“Hey! Maybe we could hold a contest of speed, agility and...”
“No, Dash, just no. That’s your solution for everything, but I seriously doubt it would work this time”, I said. I wasn’t really in the mood for this. In all my years as Princess Celestia’s protege, I had never heard of any spells such as this. We even fought a parasprite swarm, but this was really unbearable.
I mean, we all love Pinkie. She’s quirky, crazy, random and sometimes too energetic, but we love her anyway, so we really needed to find the real one and send the rest to that magic pool.
“Uhm... Maybe we could use Gummy... I mean, if he wants... He might recognize his owner," said Fluttershy. I looked at her and opened my mouth, about to congratulate her for this idea, but then Dash found a little problem.
“Yeah, right! He doesn’t even DO anything with the real Pinkie! It’s like a statue of an alligator!”
“We could use a little variation on Rainbow’s idea, darlings; a contest of humour, comedy and parties! After all, that’s the real Pinkie’s special talent”, said Rarity.
“Whoa, nelly! D’ya really wanna have to judge a hundred Pinkie parties one after the other, sugar cube?" Applejack said. Well, I don’t know about Rarity, but I was pretty sure I didn’t want to.
I closed the book I was reading with a sigh and stood up while Spike returned it back to the pile.
“Girls! We really need better ideas! I can’t believe we can’t think of anything that makes Pinkie unique between all these doppelgangers!” I said. Then I noticed four pairs of eyes looking in my direction. Of course, they were waiting to hear my idea. I wished I did have one. I opened my mouth to say something about putting all the Pinkies to bake when the door to the library opened. It was, of course, another Pinkie.
“Girls! I need help! I really need help! This isn’t fun anymore! They are breaking things and making people unhappy and this wasn’t what I wanted to do I just wanted to have fun with everyone at the same time and please help me stop them!”
“Stop them? Are you saying you are the real Pinkie?” I said, knowing the answer wouldn’t be enlightening at all.
“Duh! Of course I am!” She said, looking my way with somewhat sad eyes.
“Yeah, right! That’s what a clone would say!” Rainbow replied, flaring her wings before Pinkie.
“Uh, then... I’m not the real Pinkie!”
“Well then, sugar cube! We aren’t gonna help ya send the real Pinkie to the pool!” Applejack said, stomping her hoof on the floor.
“But I’m the real Pinkie!”
“You just said you were not the real Pinkie”, I said, massaging the base of my horn with both front hooves. My head was really aching by then.
“But that’s just because Rainbow said that saying I’m the real Pinkie makes me look like I’m not the real Pinkie! And I’m the real Pinkie, so I have to say that I’m not the real Pinkie so you girls will think I’m the real Pinkie!”
Just as I started to make some sense of the barrage of words Pinkie had spurted in a second, the door opened again. It was, of course, Pinkie. Another Pinkie.
“Hey, girls! Why aren’t you outside having fun with me?” Said the new Pinkie.
“Oh, darling, we wish we could, but we really have to solve this conundrum,” said Rarity, with a sweet smile that probably concealed her wish to strangle one or two Pinkies.
“But Charity! That doesn’t sound fun at all!” Said the new Pinkie with a pout. I immediately zapped her and sent her back to the pool. Pinkie knew everypony in Ponyville and would never have made such a stupid mistake, much less with Rarity, one of her best friends. Then it dawned on me.
“I’ve got it! I know how to find the real Pinkie!” The girls and the other Pinkie looked at me with expectation.
“Oh please oh please I’ll do anything to prove I’m Pinkie, Twilight, just say it!” Said Pinkie with puppy eyes. By now, I was almost sure she was the real Pinkie, but couldn’t risk it.
“It’s easy. You know everyone in Ponyville; so, to prove you’re the real Pinkie, we’ll go outside, find someone we don’t know and ask you his or her name. You just have to get it right!”
“Duh! That’s easy! Come on, let’s go!” Pinkie had recovered some of her usual energy and started skipping outside the library. The rest of us went behind her looking at the terrified citizens of Ponyville, in search of someone we didn’t know.
Then I saw her. To this day, I still don’t know who she was or what she did in Ponyville, and that made her perfect for this job.
“Come on, Pinkie! Follow me!” I said and started trotting towards the unknown mare.
“Excuse me, do you live in Ponyville?”
“Well,” she said “you could say I’ve been living here for thirteen months, though I live in a log cabin in the outskirts.”
“Oh, that doesn’t matter! Well, Pinkie, prove you’re the real Pinkie Pie. What’s the name of this mare?” I asked with a grin. I expected Pinkie to say it immediately, so I started to worry when she didn’t and, in fact, started to sweat.
“Well... She is... She... Her name is... Uh... Uh... I don’t know her!” Pinkie screamed. I pointed my horn towards her. “Wait, Twilight! Wait! Let’s try again, please! I’m the real Pinkie! I’m...”
I zapped her and returned her to the pool. And to think she almost deceived me... Then I thought that mysterious green mare would have liked at least some kind of explanation of what had just happened.
“I’m sorry for bothering you. Let me explain the situation, miss...”
“Heartstrings.” She said, “Lyra Heartstrings.”
