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Fun.

One word, one syllable. It was simple, but at the same time oh so complicated.

She knew she had to get it, to chase it down, to experience it in every sense of the word. The mere mention of it sent tingles down her spine, electrifying her new senses. Everything was new, everything was brilliant. Everything was there to be discovered.

Her eyes whipped around, searching the bustling and crowded streets around her, desperately searching for any activity. There had to be something for her to learn, something for her to taste, to smell, to try on for size. Maybe she could go on the swing? Could she hop around? Could she find someone to play with? Maybe one of the other ponies that looked like her, the ones that brushed past her as they jumped and ran and danced along. They were usually fun to play with, and they only wanted the same thing as her! She could almost hear their thoughts as well! Even now she could feel the exhilaration that spiralled out of control through those other ponies.

She continued jumping, hopping, skipping, leaping. All of the silly ways of travel one could imagine, she was doing. Every sight and sound was processed in an instant, being stored away for later. There was so much in the world that she didn’t know. Heck, she’d only just been introduced to those really fun ponies that one of the other hers had introduced. What were their names? Applejoj? Flutterflutter?

Meh. Didn’t matter. She could find out later what their names were. She had more important things to do anyway; there would be plenty of time for her to ask them.

It wasn’t like she was going anywhere, right?

Nah, that was a silly thought. She’d always be around to party, and learn, and have fun. Oh, there would be so much fun that she’d have! She could ea-

Her thought process blinked away as she tumbled head over hooves across the ground, rolling along until she hit a tree. A pony had gotten in her way, or maybe she’d crashed into it. The pony in question was sitting in the dirt in the shadow of a nearby building, head hung low, hooves scraping and scoring patterns into the ground.

She hopped back to her hooves, shaking the stars away from her head. Taking a moment to giggle at the mess she caused, she backtracked to what had tripped her.

It was a pony, a very pink, strange looking pony. It was just sitting there making weird faces with the ground! It didn’t look like fun, but she didn’t even know what the faces meant, so they could easily represent something fun. She had no idea, but the sitting there part did not look like fun at all. It looked like the pony was doing something that wasn’t fun, like... unfun!

Was that the right word for it? She didn't have anything better.

Unfun it was! This other pony was doing unfun! And that wasn’t fun at all, so... what? She had to show this pony what fun was, she already knew that it was the best thing in the world, and she’d only known it properly since that day! Yep, she would tell that pony all about fun.

She stopped next to the sad her and knelt down, still bobbing in place. The other-her on the ground looked at her for a second, right in the eyes, before going back to her drawing. Other-her didn’t even pay attention to herself! That was it, there was something wrong with this other-her! What kind of pony doesn’t realise how much fun is being had by the ponies around her?!

She popped her head right next to the sad her - a random crash going off in the background as another her smashed into an object in the background. It sounded painful.

Not one to delay, she tapped the other-her on the shoulder. “Hey, other-me,” she babbled. “Having fun? Ah of course you are, you’re me! And... I’m me too! And I always have fun!”

Not even waiting for a response she talked on. “Oh oh oh oh oh, ignore me, I'm stupid! Of course you know that! Come on, I need somepony to push me on the swing! Wanna come? Or maybe we could play tag, or have a water fight! Hah! That sounds awesome! Come on, me!”

She turned to hop away, but was delayed by something. Something that was strange to her,a new feeling in a world that, up to this point, had made sense. The other pony wasn’t following her, other-her was doing something else, but what?

Water was falling from other-her’s eyes, impacting the ground with small sounds, like tiny fountains of dirt erupting as each droplet of water hit. There was already a small pool, filling in the slight trough formed by her hooves that she drew.

She froze. How else would she deal with something new arising? She had no real idea of what the other her was feeling, and she had no experience with these kinds of problems, so what could she do?

There was only one solution. Shrugging her shoulders, she tapped the other-her on her shoulders. She started miming her actions, pointing first at other-her, then at herself, before acting out the two of them running along hoof in hoof.

Weirdly, and going against everything she had learned so far, other-her shook her head, water still falling slowly. It seemed that they were falling even faster now, but she had no idea why. Other-her twisted her head a little, wet streaks glistening on her muzzle. “Go,” other-her said, "Maybe I'll do that some other time..." Her head dropped, "I just need to think," other-her sighed heavily.

She tilted her head, still bouncing. “Oh. Okay then! Have fun doing... whatever you’re doing!”

And with that she was off. If the other-her was fine with her activity, then who was she to argue. She was just one of a multitude, and none of the others around her seemed to care, so why should she? There was way too much fun to be had in the world, and she would have so much time to go and discover it with herselves!

But still, the image of the sad her looking at the ground, making small movements with her hooves that made pictures with even smaller meaning, even as hundreds of other pink ponies passed by. It made her feel something, she wasn’t sure what yet, but it was something at least.

It was only a few moments before she completely zoned out, letting her legs take her wherever they wanted to. It didn’t really matter where she went anyway, she was everywhere, so she wouldn’t miss out any any fun, no matter what happened.

Her train of thought petered off as she slowed, her surroundings coming into focus. She’d been so preoccupied with her own ideas that she’d drifted away from Ponyville entirely. How long had she been thinking anyway?

She was in a small area of bush, completely covered from overhead by a thick canopy of leaves. There was no way that anypony would be able to have any chance of seeing her in here! Was she-

Oh darn, what was that word again? Loose? Long? Letter?

LOST! That’s it! Was she lost? She must be, there was no sign of where she’d come from, and only the sounds of her hooves impacting the undergrowth as she hopped along at her own pace. All of the critters were gone, as if they didn’t want to be seen. But that was silly, nothing would ever hide from her. All she wanted was a little FUN!

Hmm, but there didn’t seem like there was much fun to be had here, there was only a few trees and some bushes, no swings, no pools, no baking material, no reading material, no sewing material.

Come to think of it, was there any material at all?

She twirled around on the spot, the dizziness in her head not even affecting her as she rotated, mane whipping around furiously in the centrifugal force. It didn’t matter if there wasn’t any objects, or any ponies here, she could still make her own fun! She was able to make fun out of anything, and if it had the word fun in front of it then it was the thing for her! Nothing could bring her down! Nothing at all!

Then why was she getting the feeling that something bad was about to happen. Something really bad.

There was a feeling that she was getting. Faint, but there.

She let out a small gasp, some instinctive part of her realising, knowing that she had to be somewhere else right now. It was irrational, but for her that word had about the same meaning as the phrase ‘slow down’, or ‘strictly no admittance’. She just got the idea in her head that she had to be in Ponyville, and that if she wasn’t that something would happen without her. Even the other hers were getting that feeling, as if they were a part of something that was incredibly important. A competition of sorts? Something cool? Something fun?!

She narrowed her eyes. If there was something fun, and the other hers had started without inviting her, then she would just have to get there even quicker than usual!

She stopped her spinning and darted towards one of the trees, climbing to the top in a pink-coloured blur, leaving leaves dangling in the air, disturbed in her wake. At the top she had an unrivalled view of the surrounding area. The low lying forest thankfully didn’t have any massive trees, nothing that would prevent her from getting a bearing.

Where could it be? It had to be around here some-

There! There it was! Ponyville!

Without a moment’s hesitation she was off in a flash, springing from treetop to treetop, shaking more leaves, and the occasional hiding animal, from their canopies. Nothing mattered but getting to the fabled town. Manners could wait, and they already had been for the whole day, so this was nothing. If the other hers were having some juicy fun, then she just had to be a part of it!

The canopy parted, and for a moment she was left suspended over the ground in open air. She crashed down in an explosion of grass, but zipped back off without even looking to see where she was going. She knew where Ponyville was anyway, so all she had to do was get there and then she would know exactly what the other hers were up to, and where they were hiding!

As it turned out it was a little more difficult than that. As she zoomed into Ponyville, the pink pony was greeted by something strange, something that she had never experienced before. Silence.

The streets were utterly deserted. Where but a few seconds ago there had been an abundance of ponies all having fun, there was now only her, walking slowly.

This was terrible! How was she going to find the rest of hers if she didn’t have any way of knowing where they were! They were all off doing something and she had no clue of where to st-

Hang on there, what was that! She’d just seen a faint spot of blue, pink, and rainbow. Something at least, but that pink was unmistakable! It was another her! And it looked like it was being carried by another pony, but hay, that wasn’t the weirdest thing that she’d seen yet!

She bounced away, not in any rush now that she knew the direction they were going. She hummed to herself a little tune that she’d heard from another her earlier under her breath as she hopped. Her frizzy mane jostled along with her, keeping her company with its uncertain behaviour.

She had her eyes closed, completely comfortable to jump away with no clue of the specifics of her direction, just letting her hooves guide her. They knew that they were doing.

All too well in fact. They guided her muzzle first into a wooden door, gently slamming against it without the slightest of audible bumps. She looked around. She was in the middle of a small open space, a massive building in front of her, crowding up the area. The door that she’d bumped into appeared to be the main entrance.

She turned to move away when a faint feeling tugged at her again. It was the same one from earlier, the same one that had made her go to Ponyville. She turned, somehow knowing that, without a doubt, her others were inside the building, participating in the activity, whatever it was.

But how would she get inside? The door was locked, evidenced by her trying the door and failing to get it to budge. Now she didn't have any other way in!

Or did she...

There was a window on the side of the building! That was it! That was her ticket to getting inside and having fun with the rest of her.

She clung to the outside of the building, taking the hard way of actually crawling around the outside to get to a window. It was the perfect way in! Nothing would stop her from joining the other hers! She would have some fun at la-

Hang on, what’s happening? And what are they doing? Are they just, sitting there? Why would that be fun? And why do they all look so serious? Is something important happening?

She hesitated, her hooves mere centimetres from opening the window and allowing her access inside, but something made her stop. The look on the faces of the other hers, the five of her new maybe-friends watching intently, the overall atmosphere.

Every single her was gathered up, sitting completely still and... watching paint dry? Was that fun? She didn't know, so maybe it was. But why were they so still? Why were they gathered together? Why were they corralled into a small group? Why did she get the feeling that so much was at stake?

What was going on?

Her answer came an instant later. One of the many hers inside had found something fun to do, in stark contrast to the lack of it that was in the room, and tried to show it to the rest of her friends. On the opposite side of the room a bird had flown by the window, making a small chirping noise. One of the hers shouted out and started pointing at it.

She watched the other her with enthusiasm, cheering her on silently to get the others to join in and do something silly.

And then that her, the one that pointed to the bird, disappeared. She was just gone. A small purple glow, a quick puff, a trail of light, and the enthusiasm and excitement that she had felt inside her as she watched the other her was gone, vanished.

She fell back from the window, landing on her rear. Something had gone through her chest as that other her had disappeared, something strange. She didn’t know exactly how to describe it, but it felt a bit like a portion of her chest had suddenly dropped, and then had the tiniest chip taken. Not much, but noticeable.

She shook her head, trying to ignore the queer feeling. It meant nothing, it was stupid, that was all. That was what she told herself as she put her head back to the window.

And the next her vanished, and another. One had tried to bounce and get another to watch. In that one swift action, both of those pink lovable excitable ponies were gone.

That feeling welled up inside her again, slightly stronger, but still ignorable. It was bothering her now. She was meant to be having fun. Was that feeling fun? No, it was something else, and she didn’t have words to describe it.

She managed to stay glued to the window, but barely.

And then four of them were gone, poofing off into thin air, a faint trail of light showing something leaving. An strange orange object had popped up on the window at the other side of the building and distracted them.

And then they too were gone.

The feeling started to spread, getting stronger and stronger. She fell from the window, not being able to hold herself up any more. Something about that feeling was actually making her weak. But what? She tried dragging herself back to the window but only managed a slow crawl.

And then it got stronger, and stronger, and stronger. She could hear faint noises coming from inside. The sound of the purple magic zapping, the excited cheering of the other hers as they found some fun in the boring room. She could even feel a tiny bit of that excitement coming from her doppelgangers.

And she could feel so, so clearly the loss as each and every one of them disappeared. The feeling got stronger, and stronger, and stronger, until it felt as if there was a hole inside her chest, sucking her in.

But the feeling didn’t stop there, it just kept growing, and the noises kept increasing, and the zapping grew more frequent, and the feeling grew, and the noises increased, and the zapping increased and increased and increased and increased and increased.

And then it stopped, and the feeling stayed. She was left lying in the ground, barely conscious in a pile of moistness. A strange sound was coming from her. It sounded a little like what that her from earlier had been doing, a mixture between a cough and a hiccup, or at least that’s what she had thought.

She opened her eyes, trying to figure out what had happened. Fun didn’t seem so important anymore, she needed to understand what that feeling was, that empty pit where her chest used to be.

The pony shakily stood, tentatively brushing loose strands of her mane away from her eyes and sniffling with her runny nose. She looked at the small puddle that she’d been lying in, and a brief flash of recognition flashed through her mind.

Tears.

Where had that word come from? It had just appeared in her mind from nowhere. Was that what made the puddle beneath her? She could see the faint reflection of something in the puddle, but what was it?

And then the last of her was gone, the hole in her chest turning into a chasm, a gaping maw that sucked the last of the light from her world. She felt every last moment as the last her in the building was zapped away, bursting and floating off on a breeze.

She wasn’t sure just how long she spent there, lying in that puddle of her tears, completely oblivious to the world. All she could feel was the horrible emptiness. For as long as she could remember, which wasn’t that far, she had been comforted by the noise of the other her, the excitement, the feelings, the slight sense she had of them.

Now? Now she had nothing. There was a void where her companions had been. The silence was unbearable. It weighed down on her, forcing her into the ground with unimaginable force. There was no enthusiasm, there was no excitement, there was no noise.

There was no fun.

It was just her. The last her. All of the others were gone, and she was the remnant of the greater whole.

She was dimly aware of her muffled sobs, the sound that she hadn’t recognised only a few seconds ago. The tears streaming down her face and onto the dirt.

All she could do was lie there, unmoving but for the slight movements that wracked her body, making her turn slightly on the ground.

And the silence went on and on and on and on and on and on...

And then something broke it, shattered it into a million pieces. The doors to the hall where the rest of her had disappeared opened gently, not hinting to the terror that had happened within. And hoofsteps, hoofsteps as well, softly walking away from the building. She could only quiver from her fallback of slight safety, trying to hide from the ponies that she knew were responsible for the disappearance of all the other hers. She only managed a slight peek, seeing five ponies. One blue, one yellow, one white, one orange.

One pink. Why was that one allowed if all of the others had to go? And why couldn’t she feel anything from her either? Was this pink one different?

If they found her, what would they do? Would they attack her? Be angry? Make her disappear as well?

But what if she didn’t want to disappear? What if she wanted to stay and live?

The hoofsteps, they were fading, fading.

And then they were gone, and the silence reigned again. She allowed herself a brief sigh, knowing that - at least for the moment - she had escaped her pursuers. She h-

But where would she go now? She didn’t have a home, she didn’t have any help, she didn’t have any friends.

What about inside! The feeling she had might have been wrong! There might still be another pony in there waiting for her! With that in mind, the pink escapee took a furtive glance around the corner of the hall before quietly sneaking inside, trying to attract the least amount of attention possible.

The inside was empty, the paint wall still sitting there at the back on the stage, the paint still wet.

She wasn’t there. Anywhere. There wasn’t a single pink rambunctious pony to be seen. She wasn’t laughing, or jumping, or running, or having fun, or living, or existing, or just being.

It was as if she was just gone, as if she was only a speck that had been brushed away from the floor. What could she do if there was no other her for her to talk to? Was she even meant to still be alive? All of the others must be dead if she couldn’t feel anything from them, or else they’d say something!

She let out a sigh, allowing herself to slump to the floor and drop her head. Her mane and tail let out a loud sound, as if all of the air had burst from a balloon in a second, and her mane fell in a single straight mop, flowing around and down her head, laying on the floor.

And then all she could do was sit, and wait. What for? Anything. She didn’t know what was supposed to happen now. In the space of a few minutes her whole world had been turned on its head.

And all because of those evil ponies, the ones that made her disapp-

“Oh, hey Pinkie! What are you doing back here? Aren’t you meant to be back with the others? I was only gonna hang back here for a while, maybe draft a letter to Celestia. You can head off if you want, I’ve got everything covered.”

She froze. That voice, it sounded vaguely familiar. She lifted her head slowly to face the owner and blanched, stiffening up.

A purple unicorn was walking onto the stage, her horn glowing as the wall of paint lifted off the floor and drifted backstage, floating out of sight.

But that wasn’t what made her so scared. It was the colour of the magic lifting the wall. That colour, the purple glow, the thing that had made the rest of her vanish.

This was her, this was the evil pony that had done it. She’d killed the rest of her in those few minutes, the worst time of her life. And now here she was, directly interacting with the pink pony, the pink pony that probably should have been erased with the rest of them.

The purple pony kept talking, not even looking at her as she lifted the wall. “You know, it’s great to have the real you back. I was scared that I might get the wrong one and get rid of you instead of the fakes. Boy am I glad that one worked out. It was a bit touch and go for a while too, I almost thought at the end there that...you know...”

She didn’t respond, trying to sneak out of the building as quietly as possible without being seen again, she didn’t want

The purple pony turned towards her. “Uhhh, Pinkie? Are you feeling okay? You look a little pale. What’s the matter? Something wrong? I hope you haven’t caught a cold or anything from sitting in the dirt all day.

“That was you, right? The one in the dirt? The one that gave me the idea for this? Wow, please tell me that was you, I’ll feel like such an idiot if it wasn’t.”

The pony trailed off, looking suspiciously at her. “Hey Pinkie, you’re being awfully quiet at the moment, everything alright there?” she said, a slight edge creeping into her voice.

What to do what to do?! She did the first thing she could, put on a grin and try to talk. “Uhhh, hehe, yeah! I feel... great, just great! Nothing more happy than me! I’m super dooper! Just happy to be,” she flinched, her grin fading for a moment, “Alive.”

She pulled the facade back up. “But uhhh, I’ve got some stuff to do, you know?I just got went here so I could find... This! I really needed to find this.”

“...Pinkie, that’s a pamphlet for last week’s sale at Quills and Sofas, are you sure that was what you were looking for? More to the point, what’s that even doing here?”

She looked at the paper in her hoof. Sure enough, it was a faded strip of material, bright colours trying to show up around the loud lettering. “Oh, yeah, I like to collect... pamphlets. It’s a really good hobby. Really fun you know?”

She started to edging towards the door, “And, uhh, I’ve got to find something now, maybe get some fun in and all, love fun. Uhhh,” she wracked her brain, looking for the right word, “Bye?”

But the pony looked like she bought it. “Oh, okay Pinkie, I know that you’re busy. You’d better get back to your own stuff, I’ve got a lot of cleanup to do after what happened earli-

“Wait a second, what did you just say?”

Oh no.

“Pinkie, don’t walk away for a second, can you come back here, I need to talk to you.” It wasn’t a question, it was a command. But she wasn’t going back there, not to that pony, not the one that had destroyed her.

So she did the only thing that she could do, she turned tail and ran, the purple pony still calling out to her, shouting that name that she’d heard so often, demanding that she stop.

But she wouldn’t, she couldn’t. She ran as fast as she could and as far as she could, getting lost in the maze of back streets that was the Ponyville residential area. She ran until she couldn’t run any further, all strength gone, and there she collapsed, falling onto her side in the corner of an alley, sides heaving with exertion. The sun had started to drift down on the horizon, a testament to how long she had been running for, getting more and more lost in the hopes of avoiding detection. But she had to keep moving.

Exhaustion caught up to her, taking away any strength that she had and making her movements sluggish. She knew she couldn’t move any further, and she had no other option but rest and recover, and eventually hope to find some way of escaping the deadly town and its killer ponies. But where could she run to? She didn’t know the layout of any places other than the rough image of Ponyville, and even there she was bad.

That didn’t matter, she would run wherever she could, pick a direction and stick to it, maybe hope to find some town or village that didn’t want her gone.

With a basic plan in mind, the pink pony let her head fall to the ground and curled up in the corner of the buildings, no shelter or protection but for the buildings on either side.

The last remnant of a larger portion settled down, letting her completely straight mane curl around her, nestling into it for any portion of warmth. And as she slowly drifted to sleep, losing consciousness, the tears flowed freely, soaking into her coat and pooling on the ground around her, unconsciously mourning for the loss of so many.

She may not have known much, but she knew something.

Fun wasn't looking so fun any more.