"When I had journeyed half of our life's way,
I found myself within a shadowed forest,
for I had lost the path that does not stray"
...Darkness... She was completely wrapped in black. The only thing she could see was a strange purple wall in front of her... she forgot why it was there, she was just focusing on it... it was like... like a test... like her whole life depended on it...
It was then that she heard it... a voice, a really familiar voice, breaking the hypnotic spell that made her look at the wall...
"Somepony's making balloon animals!"
- What, where? - was her only answer...
In horror, she glanced as the wall began to melt, slowly turning into a monstrous being... she couldn't name what it was, it was the same thing somepony could see when they're about to die...
The strange abomination got it's empty eyes over her, its stare was blood-freezing... and from what appeared to be a horn on it's forehead, several purple flames were fired towards her... she was trying to pull back, to escape the flames...
She couldn't see what or who did it, but she still felt... like somepony pushed her towards the flames... she could feel the heat of them burning her flesh, as she got the sensation of being dragged into a dark pit...
She heard her voice... laughing at herself... like if she was laughing at her terrified screams, as she fell into oblivion... only darkness surrounded her now...
The pink pony woke up in that moment, bathed in cold sweat. She found herself lying on the floor of a really decadent building. The windows were broken in pieces, burned flags decorated the place, and the smell of rotting wood filled her nostrills. She tried to recognize where she was, or at least what happened... why she was there... But her memory was completely blank.
She felt a small headache. She was trying to remember anything, even the smallest thing, but all she seemed to remember was one name...
-Pinkamena Diane Pie... - she said quietly to herself - Could that be me? Is that my name?
The truth is she couldn't remember anything. She forgot what her name was, what she liked to do, what her family was, she even forgot how she looked like! It was like all her memories just banished from her head, getting lost in Celestia-knows where. Trying to recognize where she was now was useless.
The young mare inspected the ruins where she woke up. It appeared to be the ruins of an old Town Hall, and she kept getting an oddly familiar vibe from it. The walls were covered in purple paint, and had a really depressing look, like if the building was abandoned for a long time. On the floor, the pony noticed an old rusted metal pipe. She had no idea of why it was there, so the pony decided to take it as a weapon, just in case, after all she had no idea of where she was.
Searching around the place, she noticed a big, wrecked door that appeared to lead outside the building. Grabbing the pipe with her mouth, the pink pony proceeded to walk towards the door, completely clueless of what was behind it. She began to open it really slowly, preparing herself to attack if something jumped towards her...
Finally outside, she found herself in what was once probably a town. Ruined homes littered the now overgrown dirt roads, the smell of both physical and mental decay burning her nostrils. The sky was blood red. A red so intense she knew it had never been blue. It took a moment to realize there was no sun. Where there should have been a bright, life-giving star, there was only a mirror. Or at least, she thought it was a mirror. Then it rippled...
All of a sudden, she heard a strange noise, like if someone was trotting nearby. The young pony checked out the deserted streets in front of her, but she saw nothing that could be alive. Yet the sound became stronger every time, like if something or someone was trotting where she was. The pony began to feel scared, and quickly grabbed the pipe she was carrying as she prepared to attack whoever or whatever tried to injure her.
That's when she heard it, when she heard that voice... it was clear it came from the same thing trotting towards her...
- FU...FUUUUN....FUUUUN... - whatever was saying that, sounded like a demented, distorted version of her own voice.
The young pony turned to her left, and what she saw... the pony wasn't sure if she was still having a nightmare... no, this felt too real. In front of her, a creature with claws for hooves was approaching towards her. The creature had no eyes, and fangs for teeth, with a pink cotton-like mane and tail...
The young pony screamed in terror at the sign of that creature, and tried to run away from it. Hopefully, the monster was clumsy and slow moving, giving the impression of already being wounded up. But for her disgrace, she couldn't outrun it for much, as she nearly fell into an endless pit. It was like the ground beneath her ended in that place.
As she tried to find another way, she kept asking herself where in Equestria was she?! And how did she got there in first place?! Could it be... that she was in Tartarus?! Or probably... Something even worse than Tartarus?!
-...FUUUUUN....F....FUUUN... - she could hear the creature following her, and she got even more terrified when she believed to hear more than one voice chasing her.
Looking behind her, she noticed that now there were around five of those creatures following her. She felt her blood freezing at the sight of them, and quickly proceeded to take a different way, trying to get them behind.
Trying to fool those monsters, the pink pony decided to hide inside a building, expecting that the monsters could keep looking for her on the empty streets. And it was really curious that the very first building that she noticed was one made out of cookies and candies. The only sight of it gave her a strange feeling like she has been already there... like...if it was some kind of home or something for her.
She had not much time; the monsters were coming closer and closer every moment, so she hurried up and entered inside the building, proceeding to block the entrance with some furniture that she casually found. The pony waited for the monsters to go away, remaining in silence, hearing their hoofsteps coming closer and closer to the place until they began to turn more silent, and just the same way they appeared, she heard the monsters going away, probably still looking for her.
Finally she managed to take some fresh air, as she was completely exhausted from running away. She was safe now, at least for the moment, as long as she didn't leave...
- "Sugar Cube Corner"? - The young pony noticed a small sign above her.
She looked around her, realizing the building she got inside was in fact a Bakery... a really familiar one... In that moment, she felt a really weird sensation in her head, like if... like if she was remembering something...
...The Cakes Family... Carrot and Cup Cake... their foals Pound and Pumpkin Cake... working with them... living at... Sugarcube Corner... in Ponyville...
She began to remember things! That was her home, where she lived and worked: Sugarcube Corner! And she was still in Ponyville, Equestria! But then... what happened to Mr. and Ms. Cake? Where were their foals? And what happened to the whole town? Those monsters sure had something to do with it. But then, what ever happened to the whole world? And when did it became like a new Tartarus? There were so many questions on her head in that moment, until...
Another noise! This one came from inside the kitchen. But... it didn't sound anything like hoofsteps, neither as claws touching the floor... it was... it was like somepony dropped a glass and broke it. Something or someone was inside with her. Was it a monster? Or could it be... a pony?
Arming herself with the metal pipe again, she walked slowly into the kitchen, trying not to make any sound. If there was a monster in there, she couldn't want to call its attention. She tried to control herself, but she was trembling in fear, insecure of what was there with her.
Once again, she heard another noise, but this time, it was like someone slammed a door. It came directly from where she was. Looking around, she noticed that the oven was shaking, like f someone just closed it seconds ago. It was clear for her that something got inside, but the oven was just big enough for a filly to fit in. Taking a deep breath, the pony approached the oven, she began to open it, and for her surprise, she noted that inside of it...
- AAAAAAAAH!!! - A small colt screamed in terror when she saw the pink pony finding his hideout, scaring her too.
- AAAAAAAAH!!! WHO IN THE HAY ARE YOU?! - The poor pony felt like her heart nearly fainted.
- I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you. - The young colt apologized - I thought you were one of those Remnants walking across these streets.
- You... you mean those strange creatures?
- Yes. They suddenly appeared here like out of nowhere. - The colt began to explain - Those Remnants... clearly whoever used the Lake's magic had no idea of what happens when you make a clone out of a clone.
- Lake's magic? Clones? - The pink pony felt like memories were coming back at her, and once again the strange sensation invaded her head, making her dizzy.
... Legend of... Mirror Pond... Out of control... Friends harmed... Everyone angry... Angry at her...
- Are you ok, girl? - The young colt said as he helped the pink pony to stand up. - You seem a little...
- It's... It's ok. - But the truth is, she was feeling guilty, the memories made her guilty, even if she didn't understand what they meant... But she stopped thinking about it when she focused on the colt: he wasn't older than 13 years old, his mane was black as coal and his coat was of a white color. His eyes were of an intense blue color - By the way, who are you and what are you doing here?
- Oh, right, almost forgot it! My name's Stormy Brave, and I was hiding here from the Remnants. It's nice to meet you, eh...
- Pinkamena Diane Pie, or at least I think that's my name. I can't remember.
- Pinkamena? That's a nice name, but... can I call you Pinkie Pie? I think it sounds better.
Suddenly, the eyes of the pink mare opened wide, as she felt a refreshing feeling on her head, like... like if things began to come clear for her! She began to feel memories awakening on her...
- Pinkie Pie... - for the first time since she woke up, the pink pony managed to smile - ...That's my name... I'm starting to remember...
But just as it appeared on her face, her smile turned into horror as she began to tie her memories up, realizing what happened...
Her name was Pinkie Pie... She used the Mirror Pond to clone herself... To bring happiness to her friends... She still couldn't remember who they were, which were their names... she just remembered their voices... she remembered that they were angry at her... Then she forgot if she was the real Pinkie... Every clone looked just like her... Then the test that was imposed to her... watching the paint dry... Having to watch it without distracting... all the fear of failing, the idea of not being the real deal... only to be distracted by that voice... then being vanished by... by that monster... just like every other clone...
- Please tell me, Stormy... - Pinkie began to ask in a really terrified voice - Where am I?
- I thought you already knew, Pinkie! You are in what we like to call the Limbo of Lost Memories, inside the Mirror Pond. - Young Stormy said, confirming the mare's greatest fear.
- .I... I'm... I'm in the Mirror World? But that means... that I'm just a clone... That means I failed...
To be Continued...
Author's Note
I really want to thank Dax and vcrmaster from the JJ's Art Channel Chatroom. They really helped me fixing the mistakes in this.
