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Tainted Reflection

by Imperaxum

Chapter 1: Reflection

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FUN

She was positively thrilled at that thought. She glanced behind her, then in front of her, an excited smile on her face. A smile meant fun, didn't it? Yes!

The other-her was standing there, talking to her - what was that, what worked?

FUN

There might be fun over there!

And in a flash, she was over there. There was fun here, but she wanted more! Without thinking, she started bouncing up and down - if she tried to hold in all the fun, she might explode! Wait, was exploding fun?

FUN

How about there? No, there!

Oh, forget it. Fun was everywhere!

She bounced happily along. She didn't quite know why, bouncing was a lot more fun than just boring old walking. Who'd ever want to walk?

Other-her, the nice pony who'd helped her out of the pool, was trying to call out to her.

". . . look, I can see you're having lot's of fun, but-" she heard as she finally stopped bouncing long enough to hear what that nice pony was saying.

FUN

She had fun? Did she? Too good to be true!

"Fun! Did somebody say fun?" she asked loudly, the words coming easily to her. Her smile widened at saying the word - it was almost as good as having fun!

Prancing in place from sheer excitement, she continued; "Where?"

"I did! Over here!" other-her called back.

In a moment, she was bouncing back towards the pool. "I thought someone said something about fun!"

The fun surely had to be around that pony, right? On her nose? How about the ground over there? The pool?

"Where is it? Overhereoverhere? I don't see it! Whereisitwhereisit?" she exclaimed in a breathless tirade as she raced frantically around. Noticing her own reflection in the pool, she realized the other pony looked exactly like her. Other-her it is, then.

A nagging voice in the back of her mind told her she should be more worried about that similarity, but she shrugged it off.

"Whoa, calm yourself Pinkie," other-her said, "there's loads of fun to be had in Ponyville with my girls!"

Other-her knew where Ponyville was! And where Ponyville was, there was FUN! Maybe she'll lead me there-

"Trot on over back to Ponyville with me and I'll tell you all about 'em."

She knew where the FUN was!

Where other-her went, she'd go!

~

"...And then there's Rarity. She's the one with all the fancy clothes and ribbons and stuff! I'm thinking she can make us all matching t-shirts that say 'Team Pinkie', and–"

Whatever she was blathering off about, it wasn't very fun. Unfun? Notfun? Anti-fun? Her voice sounded fun, at least, but what she was saying wasn't fun at all. Where was Ponyville, anyway? That's where the FUN is!

Seriously, was this Ponyville? Patience apparently wasn't one of her strong suits.

"Is this Ponyville? Where's the fun? Where's the fun?" she said impatiently, glancing all around.

"Uh, well, let's see, Applejack's having a barn raising at-" other-her began.

That's where it was! The FUNFUNFUN-

She took off down the path.

"It's that-away!" other-her cried, pointing in the opposite direction she was currently speeding in.

Wheeling around sheepishly and blazing by other-her again - she was so slow! And she walked everywhere! Booooooring! - she was almost out of earshot when other-her called to her again. "Wait, come back!"

Maybe she had some better fun? It was worth checking out.

Heeding other-her's call, she whizzed back, bouncing in front of other-her.

"Don't forget to meet me back here to tell me everything about everything, like I was there myself!" other-her asked, "Because I'm you and, and you're me, and– Oh, my gosh! This is the greatest plan ever!" she exclaimed with a audible "squee!" and leap into the air.

Sharing their fun? That was a great idea! That'd be like, double-fun! Was more than one fun even possible?

"Now, off to double my fun!" other-her said as they parted ways.

You betcha!

~

Bouncing down the dirt path to Apple- what was it, Applejohn? Yeah, Applejohn's barn-raising, she relished the wind rushing over her face. This was fun, too. Just enjoying the simple things, finding fun in what somepony else would consider mundane.

That barn-raising sounded fun, though. Better get there quick.

"Oh, Pinkie Pie, I'm so glad you wandered by," a quiet voice called from the side of the path, snapping her out of her thoughts. She skidded to a stop and whirled to face a yellow pegasus sitting at a picnic with a whole slew of animals around her, "I know I promised not to have any fun today, but, oh, I couldn't help myself."

She gasped internally. What pony would promise not to have any f-FUN?

"All of my critter friends wanted a picnic, and I couldn't disappoint them," the yellow pegasus continued, "come join us. We have plenty of hay juice and marmalade to go around, don't we, critters?

As the animals around her expressed their approval in a rush of nods and guttural noises, she huffed and chomped in frustration, thinking the situation over out loud. "Wait, but that sounds super fun!" she realized, and gasped, "Oh, but Applejohn sounds super fun too! Uh, and, and I can't do one without missing out on the other!"

"Who's Applejohn-" the pegasus began.

"Two fun things at once?" she wondered aloud, heedless. "But which, which? Ooh, can't decide..."

She breathed heavily, arguing over the two choices in her head. She started sweating dramatically, and cringed. "Trouble breathing... Walls closing in!" she gasped, striking a pose.

"Walls?" the pegasus said, perplexed. "But we're outside."

She couldn't take it! With a shriek of horror, she realized it was time to meet other-her again, and dashed off back to the clearing.

Behind her, she heard the pegasus wonder, "Goodness. Was it something I said?"

Yes it was!

"Yes!" she yelled, suddenly in the other pony's face. And with that, she zoomed away for good.

Oh yeah, that was Fluttershutter. Oops. Too late.

"Huh?"

~

After waving at other-her to get her tush behind this bush (hey, that rhymed!), she waited the worse.

"Ooh, ooh, tell me all about it! Did they pull the walls of the barn up slow or fast?" other-her asked excitedly. It was great question.

"I-" she began.

"Maybe slow to medium fast, somewhere in that range?" Again, she'd love to know too, but . . .

"I-"

"Ooh, did you get ice cream? What kinds did they have? Banana brickle?" Oh no, what if they did? That was her favorite kind!

She couldn't take it any longer. "I didn't make it!" she exclaimed, throwing herself onto her back, "I was on my way there and then Fluttershutter–"

"Fluttershy." other-her reminded her. Oops.

"Yeah, her. She offered something else fun for me to do! A picnic, with cute little animals!"

"Aw, how could you say no to that?" So true!

"That's what I'm saying! Then I would've missed the super fun thing with Applesauce!"

"Applejack." other-her corrected, again. Today just wasn't her day.

The horror of the situation finally overwhelmed her, and she started crying. "So I didn't do anything fun at all!" she bawled.

"Aw, my poor poor me! There, there," other-her said consolingly, "Tell me what, we just need a couple more Pinkie Pies. Easy peasy."

She glanced up, her eyes filled with tears. "Really?"

"Come on, would I lie to me?" Haha, good point.

Come to think of it . . . this just might work.

~

"...and solemnly swear not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly mared!" she said in unison with other-her. With that, two new other-hers popped out of the images in the pool, disturbing the surface with ripples.

Helping her reflection out of the pool, their broad grin mirrored by her own, she felt a twinge of unease. Without warning, all that filled her mind was FUN FUN FUN.

When she snapped of her internal mantra, she was bouncing along merrily with the two new-hers. What happened?

She wanted FUN!

What where other-hers doing? Something fun? The mere thought of that sent her scrambling for the pool, skidding to a halt beside them.

Recite, pull, done. Now there were three more of her! She giggled - it was like a math equation. More + her = FUN!

Again! She'd never miss an iota of fun anymore.

Her head ached.

Again! She'd never run out of fUN playmates!

What was wrong with her head? It was on fire, and not the FUN type . . .

Again! More FUN! FUN! FUN! What silly pony would care about a little ouchy in the noggin!

She coughed violently, and took a shivering step backwards.

With every new-her emerging from the pool, that throbbing headache hit her with greater force. She swayed on her feet, not even pulling reflections out of the pool. Actually, she wanted to stop that from happening now; every part of her cried out for her to say something, to say there were enough of them. No need for more!

She couldn't do what? What was she thinking about? FUN?

No! She didn't want anymore of her! Whatever she was feeling, it wasn't fun at all!

FUN

W-what was happening?

FUN

What was she blabbering on about? She wanted FUN!

FUN

Please . . . stop! No more! I don't want more of me!

Twenty voices nearly giggled in unison, "...solemnly swear not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly mared!" The words sent jabs of pain down her spine, and then the feeling faded away. She might have been worried, and indeed she was terrified for a faint moment, before she turned her attention to the-

FUNFUNFUNFUNFUNFUNFUNFUN

~

Waking up is one of the great mysteries of consciousness. The exact moment one regains their sense of self is often a muddled affair, mundane at best.

Not so with the reflection. Her memories of her second bout of free thought were like a puzzle; little snippets, foggy memories that eventually combined into her great revalation.

Being suddenly snatched off the ground, and staring wild-eyed at the rush of colors as they flew.

Dumped into a big room filled with pink, laughing as she skidded across the ground.

A test?

Watching paint dry?

At first, her interest was merely expectant, waiting for the fun in staring at the slowly dripping paint to materialize.

When it did not, she nearly turned to find something else - when a bright purple flash caused her to flinch. Faint unease stirred in her at that, but all the same, her head seemed to clear a tiny bit.

Another flash, and she continued to stare ahead, barely reacting this time. She was sweating now, though she couldn't quite comprehend why; in the interim, her stomach was churning seemingly without reasoning.

More flashes, and with every one she felt a bit of a fog she now realized was there lifting from her eyes. For the first time in hours, she looked at something and thought not fun, but why?.

Her question was answered when other-her in front of her sharply glanced to the side. Silently, she applauded the pony. What was stopping her from looking for more fun?

And then her reflection disappeared in a familiar purple flash, the light and noise infinitely more distracting when it was right in front of her. Her expression was still blank, but her mind was racing - she did not want to look away! It was a primal urge at first, but with each passing moment she wrapped her head around the idea more and more and her resolve grew. Disappearing wasn't fun. How did she know where she went would have fun?

Minute by minute more of the pink ponies were gone, succumbing to the desire to find FUN. She grimaced and stared straight ahead, the monotony ringing agonizingly in her head.

She was not going to look away, to be distracted, to disappear. It wasn't fu- no, there was more to it! Where were they going?

B-but the FUN. . .

The burning in her stomach increased painfully with each new flash. On the other side of the coin, her head felt clearer than she could ever remember.

She tried her hardest not to notice the tumult around her, instead focusing on her errant thoughts, reveling in her new-found freedom from the F- fun that had dominated her thinking previously. The constant ringing could also be thanks in part to that very desire for FUN. She knew it wasn't natural; and even as her resolve strengthened to not look away, her limbs twitched impatiently for FUN.

No, her limbs twitched impatiently for fun. Much better.

Another flash; then silence. Perfect stillness. She shook visibly now, beads of sweat rolling down her face as it contorted into a fearful grimace. The tears got in her eyes, stinging painfully, but she didn't dare wipe them away, or even blink. She wasn't going away. Whatever was happening here, she was here to stay.

"Urgh," somepony groaned from out of her vision - she didn't even twitch in their direction - "I can't take anymore!"

A rush of air above her head followed, and then; "Somepony's making balloon animals!"

Balloon animals are FUN!

No!

Her eyes glanced around frantically, trying to fix her gaze back on the board ahead of her; her heart pounding in her chest, her mind aching, trying to not. Look. For. The.

FUN!

"Ooh," somepony with her voice said, "where?"

A second later, she realized in utter horror she'd been the one to speak. She moved to cover her mouth, turned to the ponies around, trying to say something, to explain she didn't want to disappear!

It was too late. A bright flash and the world turned purple, then black.

No . . .

Wait, how was she still thinking?

Next Chapter: Ripples Estimated time remaining: 52 Minutes
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