I woke up the next morning to a bright day and it was going to be a fine day of where I should have it all to myself for once. After having my breakfast and just my shoes on for what could be a hot day, I trotted out of my home and through the town. Along the way, I spotted Twilight and Spike by the cafe, it looked like they were focusing on an apple or something.

"Try again, Twi, you can do it!" Spike encouraged.

"Phew, this spell's a toughie. But I feel lucky this time! One, two..."

Twilight then got cut off by Pinkie who jumped out of nowhere and hugged her.

"Hi!" Pinkie said to her.

"Pinkie, why'd you do that?!" Twilight asked.

"'Cause hugs are funneriffic, especially when you throw one around a friend. Whatcha doin'?"

"Trying to turn that apple into an orange!"

"But you kinda threw her aim off..." Spike added as we saw a flying orange.

Okay, that was weird...but what can I say about defying logic that hasn't been said.

"Wheee! What a cute orange birdie! Do me next, Twilight! Do me, do me!" Pinkie then turned round to see Rarity who was in a dark cloak, "Ooooh, Rarity, wanna see Twilight turn me into an orange? It's gonna be funna-fun-fuuun."

"As fun as creating this haute couture ensemble that I just finished making? Delightful, non?" Rarity replied as she took off the cloak to reveal her dress with loads of sparkle.

"This is terrible!" Pinkie gasped.

"I admit it's perhaps not my finest work, but I-"

"You had total-awesome-amazing fun and missed out on it?! Neh! Wait! What if there's more awesome amazing fun with friends happening somewhere in Ponyville right now that I'm missing out on too?!"

Pinkie then zoomed away, leaving us confused as I walked over to see if I could know more about this.

"Hey there all, morning." I said to them.

"We weren't going to turn her into an orange! I swear!" Spike exclaimed.

"Umm, I wasn't thinking of that, Spike."

"Oh...right."

"Anyways, I've got some shopping to do, I'll catch up with you all afterwards."

"Okay Bond, see ya."

I smiled as I walked on through the town, stopping by the shops I needed to go to. I was halfway through my shopping spree, when I came across Silver Spoon on her own. Remembering the last time I saw her, she didn't give me much information about her friendship with Diamond Tiara. This was another chance for me to see if she can be reformed.

"Well, afternoon there, Silver Spoon." I greeted.

"Oh...um...hi mister..." Silver responded.

"Bond Racer."

"Oh right...so what do you want?"

"Well, you didn't give me much information last time I saw you, so mind if you explain to me about your friendship with Diamond Tiara?"

"I told you that she's my only true friend."

"But is she everything that everyone of us sees her, or is there much more that can be only be discussed in private?"

"Why do you want to know so much?"

"Because unlike Tiara, I believe you still have a chance to change for the better."

Silver looked back at me, wondering what I meant.

"What I mean is, is that based on what I've seen from you so far, you're more of a follower than a pony who doesn't have to be."

Silver then pondered, maybe I'm beginning to get through to her.

"Well, I have been following her for a long time and she and I go way back to when we first met through Tiara's Dad and my Dad."

"I see...do you wish to take this conversation away from town?"

"Yes, I don't want Tiara to hear about it." Silver replied a little worryingly.

We then took a walk out of the town and by the park, just by the lake.

"So about earlier, it's based on what went on between your Dads?" I asked.

"Yeah, in fact if it wasn't for Tiara and her Dad, my Dad wouldn't have been able to start his sugar business in Canterlot."

"Ahhh, so that's what your cutie mark is about, it's to do with cooking?"

"Yes and when I discovered it, we needed a business so I could put my talent to use."

"Okay, I may understand you a bit more, but it doesn't explain why Tiara has to be a bully to the fillies who don't have cutie marks."

"I don't know why either, she's always hated the Apple family, but thankfully, Granny Smith has been able to tolerate her since Filthy Rich relies on his deal with the Apple family so that his business called Barnyard Bargains can run with reasonable profits."

"So what you're saying is that without the Apple family's support, Filthy's business would grind to a halt?"

Silver nodded back. This was a bit of a concern, I don't think Tiara realizes the consequences of her bullying actions and if she were to keep it up or if got much worse, then one day it would come back to haunt her family and there would nopony to blame but herself.

"Well either way, I'm suite surprised at how nice you can really be. You have the chance to change your ways and be a good filly. If you want my advice...friend or not, bullying should never be ignored nor used against other fillies, especially when it's about cutie marks."

"Yeah...you are right, but Tiara has been the only friend I have, I don't wanna risk losing my only friend and be all alone."

"But you can't keep being her follower, Silver, it's not good for you. Besides, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are the nicest three fillies I've met and that you really should get to know them if you give it a chance. Don't let Tiara's influence get the best of you, you can be a whole lot better. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I understand...I want to talk to them, but I don't think they would ever forgive me for being a follower for Tiara." Silver sighed.

"Just give it some time...maybe they'll see the potential good side in you and help you out." I assured.

"Alright...I'll think about it...thank you mister Racer, you know...you're a really good pony who has a lot of faith in ponies like me."

"Well, I do my best...that's all. Anyways, I've got my shopping to do, I'll let you go to have a think about what I've said."

"Okay...I'll see you around."

Silver then smiled and walked away whilst I went back to the town to continue my shopping. When I had finished the second half of my shopping, Pinkie then bounced in front of me by surprise, taking me back a bit.

"Geez Pinkie, what in the wide, wide world of Equestria are you doing now?" I asked.

"Timing myself galloping back and forth between the swimming hole and Sweet Apple Acres. I'm trying to cut down my time so if Rainbow Dash dives off the swing, I can get to Sweet Apple Acres to help with the barn raising, and then be back in time to see Rainbow Dash hit the water after doing a double flip! If I can cut my time by only twenty minutes, I'm good." Pinkie explained quickly.

I then laughed, "Oh, Pinkie. I'm afraid no matter how hard you try, the only way to pull something like that off is if there's more of you to go around."

Pinkie then moved her head like a clock before bells rang in her pupils...this was getting weird already.

"That's it, Bond! The legend of the Mirror Pool!" she exclaimed as she galloped off, away from the town.

"Legend of the what now? Pinkie! Twilight may be familiar with loads of legends, so you're talking to the wrong pony about it and besides, I never heard of...come back, Pinkie!"

It was no use, she was already out of sight.

"Oh Pinkie...someday, your randomness will be your downfall...wait, that didn't sound right." I said to myself.

I then remembered that I still had shopping bags on my back to carry home, so I walked back with my shopping and taking the stuff out of the bag, I stored the food and drink away. I then checked over my number of bits I had...I still had thousands of bits stored away, but I did wonder if it was going to last or run out at some point. It was lunchtime after my unpacking was done too...I'm just too good at perfect timing, I wonder when that'll stop, I thought before letting out a small giggle.

When it was the afternoon, I was resting on the sofa, Until I heard a slight tremble approaching town, I rushed over to the door and looked out to see...holy pony apples! I noticed an army of pinkies bouncing all across the town before leaving the town just like that.

"What in the world?" I said with the most confused expression.

I then saw nearly the whole town of ponies going over to Twilight's home, maybe she can help solve this new issue. But it was getting worse quick as several ponies looked quite angry. Twilight's opened the door to see her surprise as I walked over to make sure she wouldn't get mauled.

"Okay, everypony, please, calm down!" Twilight stated.

"Calm down? I just had a Pinkie hurricane raging through my shop!" Rarity complained.

"And they trashed our critter picnic!" Fluttershy added with her level of assertiveness present.

"Please everypony, hang on while we try to figure something out!" I intervened as I walked to Twilight's side.

"Thanks Bond, I could use the help. I've gotta try to remember the name of that legend she mentioned."

Twilight and I walked into the library and she went through looking at the books. I helped her and did the same until I came across one book that was lodged far in the back. I grabbed it with my magic and brought it over to Twilight.

"Is this what you're looking for?" I asked her as she took the book from me.

"Aha, here it is! "The legend of the Mirror Pond"...It describes a spell I can use to send them back where they came from!" Twilight said.

"That's perfect! Let's go!"

"But there's a catch. If I can't figure out which one's the real Pinkie, I might send her back by mistake!"

"Well, we'll just have to figure out who the real one is then. Shouldn't be too hard...if I use one of my new learnt spells."

"Wait, what kind of new spell?"

"Well, remember the book I borrowed from you, I read through all of it that I learnt several spells like one I'm about to do later called a pony location spell."

"Umm..okay, but let's get the angry pony mob out of the way."

"Alright..."

We then left the library to face the ponies who were still not pleased.

"Does anypony here know how we can tell the real Pinkie Pie from all the rest of them?" Twilight asked.

All the ponies didn't respond...looks like it was gonna be more challenging for us than we thought.

"Twilight! I have to talk to you, I need your help!" Pinkie exclaimed although, none of us were sure she was the real one at first.

"Excuse me, whoever you are, but I'm not talking to any of you Pinkies unless you're the real Pinkie."

"Oh, but, but I am the real Pinkie!"

Then, several other Pinkies showed up saying they were the real Pinkie which scared off some of the ponies.

"How in tarnation are we supposed to tell which is the real Pinkie?" Applejack asked.

"I have no idea." Twilight replied.

"I can use my pony location spell." I suggested.

"Uhh Bond, I don't think that will work."

"We've all got the same adorable tails, we've all got the same adorable manes, we've all got the same adorable hooves! Which one of us is the real Pinkie?! Oh! I haven't the slightest clue! And if I can't tell us apart... who can?"

I noticed her beginning to sob...I then used my new learnt spell on her and my readings came up as positive, meaning that she's the real one. But Twilight and Spike had already gone, so I had to catch up with them...by the time I did, I saw all the Pinkies bouncing through in the town in a large group which scared several ponies into hiding.

"Ugh, this is hopeless!" Twilight stated.

"Maybe that one's the real Pinkie." Spike said as he pointed to the Pinkie who had her head laying on the side of a mushroom table.

"Please. The real Pinkie Pie never sat that long in one place her whole life!"

"Umm Twilight...that's not the way to see things about it." I intervened.

"Oh really, got any better ideas?"

"Not really..." I sighed, thinking that it was slightly impolite of Twilight to say that.

"I'm gonna go ask." Spike said.

"Of course she's gonna say she's the real Pinkie! They all do! You're wasting your time."

Spike walked over to Pinkie.

"So lemme guess. You're the real Pinkie Pie?" he asked.

"Heck if I know. Could be any one of us if you ask me. And if I said I was the real Pinkie, you wouldn't even believe me anyway. So just leave me alone. I've got some important poking the ground with my hoof to do." Pinkie then walked away slowly.

"Oh, Bond, how're we gonna do this? I can't risk sending the real Pinkie back into the pond!"

"I miss the real Pinkie." Spike said as he and Twilight walked away.

"I bet she misses you too. Bet she'd do just about anything to get to be with her friends again." Pinkie said as she cried again.

I couldn't stand to see more of it, I went over and gave her a comforting hug as I was absolutely sure she was the real one...she accepted it but she wasn't smiling or feeling any better.

"I've got an idea." I said to Pinkie as I turned to Twilight, "What if you gave them a test? Pick something really hard for a Pinkie to do, something not fun at all! Any Pinkie that can't do it goes back into the pond. But whoever wants to stay the most, that has to be the real Pinkie!"

"You know, that's not a bad idea." Twilight replied.

Pinkie began to smile suddenly, "This is great! If I pass, I get to be with my friends again!" she then gasped "But what if I don't pass? Oh, what if I'm not the real Pinkie Pie?! Ohhhh! Stupid...magic...mirror...water! This is all your fault!...And mine."

She then face planted the ground before getting up and walking away.

"So how are gonna do this, Twilight?" I asked.

"First of all, you get Applejack and Big Mac and go round up all the Pinkies and bring them inside the Town Hall. I will go and find the others and get them to help me set up the test." she declared.

"Right, I'll get on it now."

I flew over to the apple farm and got Big Mac, Applejack and added help from Applebloom and Winona as we began to form a round up boundary. Soon, we began collecting all the Pinkies around Ponyville and have them rounded together like a herd of cows.

"Hyah, ya Pinkies! Hyah!" Applejack yelled.

"Ooh, they wanna play chase! This is fun, too!" said one of the Pinkie clones.

Shortly, we made our way to the Town Hall and all the Pinkie went inside all shouting fun over and over again.

"Oh, give it a rest." Applejack sighed.

I know how she feels...I was getting a headache from their repeated word as well. When they were inside, the rest of us went on in and shut the door behind us. We saw Twilight on stage with Spike and they had the curtains down, so it looks like the test is almost ready.

"Welcome, Pinkies, welcome. Please have a seat and make yourselves comfortable." Twilight announced.

But the Pinkies didn't reply as they were too excited to stop.

"Okay, I suppose you can't be comfortable staying in one place, but have a seat anyway." I said to them.

Still no response.

"Sit down!" Twilight yelled which got their attention as they all stopped and sat down.

"Better. Now, I suppose you're all wondering why I've gathered you all here today."

"For fun?" one of the Pinkie clones asked.

"No, just the opposite actually."

"Wait up, I got one more!" Dash exclaimed as she brought in a depressed Pinkie, once again confirming that she was the real one. "Found this one poking at the ground with her hoof, drawing frowny faces."

"Have her come sit with the others."

"No wait..." I said to them. "Bring her over to my side...right here."

Dash nodded as I walked to the left side of the hall centre and Pinkie was brought down beside me. I put my hoof around her, trying to comfort her and assure her that she'll pass the test Twilight has set up.

"Pinkies, you've been brought here to take a test."

All the Pinkies clones shared their disappointment except for the Pinkie beside me.

"Don't worry, it's a simple test, about as simple as they come, and whoever passes gets to stay."

The clones nodded in agreement.

"Curtain, please. The test... will be watching paint dry!"

The curtains pulled up and I saw Rarity and Fluttershy who just finished painting a wall that was still wet.

"On your mark, get set, go!"

Soon the test began with the clones all sharing worried expressions...they should be, since I knew that the Pinkie beside me would be able to pass this test, no matter how bad it looks to her.

"Ooh, this is so exciting!" Spike commented as he had a bag of popcorn.

Several minutes passed and Spike had run out of popcorn and was hanging upside down on the chair.

"Okay, maybe not that exciting." he added.

It was all quiet at the point until a bird flew by on the other side of the window.

"Oh, hey, look at the birdie!" one of the clones said.

That gave Twilight the signal to zap a spell at the clone, soon the Pinkie clone turned into a pink smoke and flew out the window and of sight...probably back to the mirror pool.

"Watch me bounce and touch the ceiling!" another clone said...one zap later and that clone was outta here.

I then heard a conversation between three more clones talking about an orange frog...oh yeah, I think Twilight needs to sort that out when this was done. The three clones were then zapped and on their way out, back to the pond where they belong.

This carried on for a while as more and more clones were zapped back to the mirror pond, whilst the real Pinkie didn't flinch at all by my side as we remained focused on the drying paint on the wall. Soon though, we were left with two Pinkies, one in the middle and the one beside me.

By then, all of us involved were getting worried and jittery.

"Ugh, I can't take it anymore!" Dash exclaimed.

I then thought of an idea that would be risky but may put an end to this issue.

"Hey you two Pinkies, who wants a hug?" I asked them both.

"Oh...oh...oh...I do!" the one in the middle replied before she closed her mouth with her hooves.

Twilight knew it was too late for that, the last clone was then zapped away back to the pond.

"No thanks...I'm not good enough for a hug." the Pinkie by me said.

"Awww, cheer up Pinkie...you did it." I said.

"I passed?" Pinkie asked.

"You passed. You're the only Pinkie who kept staring at the wall." Twilight said.

"I had to. I just had to. I couldn't leave my friends, I just couldn't. But I guess sometimes I will have to choose between them."

"And now...I'll ask you again, hugs?" I asked Pinkie.

Pinkie finally smiled as she and I shared a friendly hug, before the rest of us came close and turned it into a group hug.

"I'm glad that ordeal is over, may the Mirror Pond never be used again I say." I said to them as we left the Town Hall, noticing the sunset.

"Agreed, I'll go to the Everfree Forest and find a rock to block the entrance to it." Twilight said as she trotted off whilst the rest of us went to Sugarcube Corner.

"Spike, could you write me a letter for Celestia?" Pinkie asked as we helped ourselves to a plate of free cookies.

"Sure thing Pinkie...ready." Spike answered as he got a paper and a quill to write.

Pinkie then began to speak about today. "Dear Princess Celestia, it's great to have fun, but it's even greater to have great friends. And having lots of friends means that you sometimes have to make choices as to who you'll spend your time with. But that's okay, because good friends will always give you lots of opportunities to have fun. So even if you're missing out, it's never for long. Respectfully yours, Pinkie Pie."

"Great lesson, Pinkie." I said, nodding in agreement.

Spike then rolled up the letter and with his fire breath, sent it away to the Princess.

"Well girls, I think it's time we called it a day...by the way, did somepony say something about a carnival this week?" I asked.

"Yes sugarcube, it's the carnival float parade in two days." Applejack replied. "Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle have been working hard on making their float today."

"That's cool, I might pop round to see if they need help."

"Okay, see you then, Bond."

"Same to you Applejack and everypony else."

I then waved at the girls and Spike as I left Sugarcube Corner and walked back to my home. I got in and had my late dinner as I hadn't eaten anything since lunchtime. Feeling satisfied, I cleaned up my face and headed on over to bed and getting comfortably, I looked back at today.

I'm all for myths and legends, but what a case of sending in the clones today. I'm really glad that mirror pond will not be used again. One Pinkie Pie is more than enough...but can anypony imagine what it would be like to see clones of me? I don't think Ponyville would've survived, but oh well, I can dream about it at least and look forward to the carnival parade on the day after tomorrow. Next Chapter: One Bad Apple Estimated time remaining: 15 Hours, 33 Minutes