「MMMM」: Pinkie's Story /// Chapter X: The Road to Nowhere

Previously, on The 「Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness」: Pinkie's Story...
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>A while after you begin walking again, you notice another tunnel up ahead, except there's another figure in it
>They seem to be muttering to themselves, before they notice you're here
>"Railroad's closed. Go back to where you came from."
"Eh? But a train just went up here earlier!"
>The figure grins and points down, at a train broken on the ground, windows crashed and carriages disjointed
>That, and a red stain coming from the bottom as well
>Wait, it can't be the same train from earlier
>Can it?
>"I know. And if Joe's any indication, you're going to be joining it too."
>A pony with an appearance similar to Joe's emerges from the tunnel, except he has braids, and no pupils in his eyes
>Ouch
>"Do you know how much money I would get if I brought proof that the Rock Ponies are still alive?"
"Enough to pay your bail fee, you dang monster! Show me what you've got!"
>Summoning 「PPP」, you dash forward towards the pony, leaving the rest of the group in the dust
>However, as the pony begins to book it with you following behind, the train disappears, with Applejack noticing immediately
>"Pinkie, stop! It's a trap! It's what he wanted you to do!"

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>One word that you can describe yourself as right now is "miffed"
>The pony you're chasing right now is, in one word, a "coward"
>And, in one word, you can describe your current state as "subpar"
>Running through a tunnel in the bare darkness on a railroad isn't the smartest of ideas, and you can confirm it because you
>But you know for a fact that you'll make him pay for destroying the train everyone was on
>An image of Twilight laying lifeless on the mountain is enough fuel to keep you going all night

>You swear you hear Applejack behind you, telling you to slow down, but you see too much red to calm down
>And there's so much red, you didn't even notice a wall in front of you
"Ow!"
>Your face hurts badly, but you jump through the other side with 「PPP」's assistance
>Gasping, the pony keeps running, not expecting you to jump through so quickly
>Though, you think the wall may have disappeared out of the corner of your eye
>Slowly, you hear Blaze catching up towards you, the hoofsteps echoing within the tunnel
>You're assuming she used Lilac's flight abilities to get to you, or else you shudder to think of how they got over Applejack without falling
>"Pinkie! Turn back now, it's a trap!"
"I don't care! Trap or not, I'll show him what happens if you mess with my friends!"
>"You should listen to her. Who knows what I have planned for you?"
>Said pony appears from a rock you pass by, running next to you with a smirk
>You steer to the right, intending to push him into the tunnel walls so he falls over...
>...And incidentally enough, he does, not even bothering to use what powers he had in order to get you
>You'd be concerned on if you're in trouble, but you're a "hit now, ask later" kind of mare
>Swerving around and moving him onto the tracks, you pin him down and force him to look at you
"Tell me! What did you do to the train? What did you hurt my FRIENDS? I oughta do what you did to them!"
>The stallion laughs in response, prompting you to headbutt him to make things even
"Tell me!"
>Blaze stops a few feet away from you, looking upon you in shock and moving back
>"Pinkie! That's what he does! He tricked you by making the tunnel an illusion! The REAL tunnel's up ahead in the mountain!"
>Alright, now that's just plain unfair
>True to her words, the tunnel dissipates, leaving you on a thin road, the only thing keeping you from a long, hard fall

"Wait..."
>Racking your head, you just can't comprehend how you were able to be duped so easily by a Paradox
>Especially when one detail keeps sticking out to you
"If that tunnel we went through didn't exist at all, then how did I push you into the walls?!"
>The stallion laughs, making the tunnel appear again and touching the walls
>"I guess I may as well tell you what the properties of my ability is since this is too good an opportunity to pass up. It creates three illusions, varying in strength."
>The tunnel dissipates, revealing the railroad and the surroundings again
>"The first illusion is named 「Sunrise」. It's the strongest illusion; it looks, feels, and seems real. The only problem is that light can pass through, which makes it easy for people to spot it's fake. Hm... I wonder how you didn't notice..."
"SHUT UP! I was busy making sure my friends didn't fall off! Keep talking!"
>The stallion nods, pointing back where the wall you busted through once was
>"The third illusion is named 「Sunset」. The weakest illusion, it can be plowed through easily, like you did to the walls. Like the first, light can pass through."
>You nod, mentally bucking yourself for not being able to pick up on the details earlier
>Still, you can't help but notice that the pony hasn't explained to you
"Hold on! What's the second one?"
>Before he answers, he points behind you, slowly disappearing, a voice coming behind you
>Celestiadamnit, it's the same stallion's voice
>"The second illusion is called 「High Noon」. Unlike the other two, light cannot pass through it. The cost of it is that the strength is weak, which is how you pushed 'me' to the walls. That's my ability; 「New Day Rising」."
>Without hesitation, the stallion throws you off the bridge
>You're going to have to brace yourself for the impact once you hit the ground

"Shoot! I—「PPP」 won't be able to get me up there, but maybe I can get to another cliff—? Sweet merciful Luna, how am I going to get out of THIS one?!"
>Summoning 「PPP」, you put it in front of you, getting ready for the portal-like shenanigans that might happen next
>Except you feel a wind coming from beneath you, moving you away from the ground
>"Gosh! If it weren't for the 「Wind Beneath My Wings」, you'd be good as gone!"
>Lilac, with a goofy smile, flies next to you, making sure you get to the railroad safely
>The stallion looks fearful, but swallows his pride and smiles, getting ready to push you down again
>"So you had a friend that saved you from doom. Big deal! Three degrees of separation from reality is all it takes to take you down!"
>"Nope! You don't know a thing about my Paradox! Check it!"
>"What—?"
>Pointing her hoof towards the stallion, he's pushed back, causing him to fall on the rail
>The wind places you down on the railroad, Lilac flying right next to you
>"Alright! You and I should take him down! Or do you want to do this by yourself?"
"Of course not! Let's kick this guy's flank into next year!"
>Posing, the two of you stay in place, hoping to intimidate him into giving up
>Despite being visibly shaken, he smirks, turning over and dashing away from you towards the next REAL tunnel
>The two of you begin chasing him, the other three yelling at you both to come back before you get into trouble
>But with a stallion like him exploiting your emotions, what else are you going to do, let him free?
>The both of you reach the tunnel, which is completely straight, the light at the end showing a small glimpse of Canterlot
>Halfway throughout the tunnel is the one you're chasing, so you make due and begin running

>A wall pops up, causing you to skid to a halt to inspect which kind of illusion it is
>It kind of looks like a sedimentary rock to you, and you know this because Maud told you the differences between the three types
>They should be easy to get through with a buck or two
>Or, well, you WOULD buck them, but Lilac crashed into the wall before you could do anything, making it crumble to pieces
>You guess it's killing two birds with one stone (huehuehue)
>Falling through the floor (with 「PPP」's help, not to your doom) to gain a bit of speed, you continue relentlessly chasing the culprit
>Said culprit looks back with a sweat, causing an illusion of a rock wall to appear again
>"Hey, hey, hey! Let's chill out a bit! Come on, you two aren't seriously going to hurt me over a joke, right?"
"A... A joke?"
>A flame ignites within you at the implication of your friends seemingly biting the dust being a joke, making you angrier than ever before
>So angry, in fact, that 「PPP」 punches the rock before you even tell it to
>You begin seeing red, running ahead at full force to show that pony what happens when he messes with your friends
"A joke would be you telling me EVERYTHING about your ability!"
>Another rock wall comes up, and your trusty Paradox punches through it, allowing you to continue ranting
"A joke would be you thinking you can beat me when you told me you hurt my FRIENDS!"
>You're halfway through the tunnel, now, and you're almost catching up to the pony
"A joke would be you intending to sell Rock Pony information even though I don't know if I AM one or not!"
>You begin catching up to him, Lilac cheering you on while she gets up from bashing into the wall
"If you think that hurting my friends is a joke, then you've got a messed up sense of humor! You wanna hear funny?"
>You leap into the air, landing onto the pony and falling on the rails
"Knock knock."

>"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I promise you, they're A-okay, I saw them getting to the station and they're all fine—"
"Knock. Knock."
>Swallowing his pride, he looks back at you
>"Who's there?"
"Hertz."
>"Hertz who?"
"Hertz you, donut? 「PPP」!"
>Falling through the floor, the both of you appear at the end of the tunnel, 「PPP」 holding the pony by his neck
>You've played enough good cop for now, now it's time to get DOWN and DIRTY
>DIRTY DEEDS are to be DONE DIRT CHEAP
"What's your name?! Tell me! What's your name?!"
>"Sweet Victory! It's Sweet Victory!"
>You snicker at the irony at his name, before shaking your head and jabbing his chest with your right hoof
"Who sent you here?!"
>"Donut Joe! No, not him, his ability-thing! It spoke on his behalf? I'm not sure!"
"Great. What do you know about the Rock Ponies?!"
>"Nothing! Nothing at all, I swear, even if I was the one that was sent to get you! They haven't been heard of in ages! Not even Celestia knows they exist!"
"I see. Which is better? A hundred or two hundred?"
>"Um... Two hundred? Why?"
"Because that's how many punches you're gonna be given! 喰らう!"
>Throwing him up into the air via 「PPP」, you get ready to give him the beatdown of a lifetime
"Get ready! ROKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKA—"
>During your yelling, you and 「PPP」 begin beating the absolute shit out of Sweet Victory, which despite isn't really a good thing, satisfies you anyway
"—KAKAKAKAKAKAKAKA—"
>You hear Lilac behind you, so you look behind while still keeping the punches going
"—KAKAKAKAKAKA?"

>"Pinkie, I think you should ease up on him. You already punched him a hundred times, I think that's enough—"
"KAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKA!"
>"What do you mean 'He deserves it'? Hey! If I send him to Canterlot using my Paradox, will you stop beating him up?"
"KA KAKAKA KA KAKA KAKAKAKA?"
>"Of course not, he can tell everyone and no one will believe him! 「Wind Beneath My Wings」!"
"RO... KA!"
>With one final punch, Lilac sends Sweet Victory flying to Canterlot (more specifically, Donut Joe's donut shop), leaving you to regain your breath
>Beating the shit out of a pony with your Paradox is really hard on your body, especially since you're putting your soul into it
>It DID feel good unleashing your stress onto him, though, particularly now Canterlot is in your sights
>A few more minutes of walking and you'll be there, and you'll be able to save your friends from Donut Joe
>Sweet Celestia, you never want to have another donut in your life after meeting him
>And his Paradox can go jump off a cliff, too
>"Pinkie!"
>Oh, yeah, you forgot Applejack and the rest were with you
"Howdy, Applejack! Is everything alright?"
>Not saying anything more, the cowpony hugs you, sighing out of relief
>"Run out without me again and Ah swear to Celestia, you're gonna regret it. Ya could've gotten hurt! Next time, ask for help! If Lilac weren't here, you'd be a dead mare walkin'!"
"Yeah, but I'm a capable pony enough! See, I did a big number on him! I was like 'ROCK' and he was all like 'Don't hurt me' and now he's all the way to Canterlot!"
>"Ya did WHAT?!"
"He deserved it! No one threatens my friends and gets away with it!"
>Blaze trots up to you, pointing at your next destination
>"Less talking, more walking."

>"Ya know, Pinkie, Ah still don't understand ya."
"Who understands me in the first place? No one except my sisters, I'll tell you that much!"
>After a long while, you're all travelling through the third tunnel, a few more miles until you reach your next destination
>As you learned from Lilac, the time is now one in the afternoon, which kind of baffles you
>It's hard to believe that a few hours ago you had a glass shard in your hoof and were left in the desert
>And, as it stands, you're hungry and thirsty, and you have no doubts that the others are too
>"Not like that, sugarcube. Ah'm talkin' how you dealt with him."
"What do you mean?"
>"Just a minute ago, he was talkin' a big game and almost had ya thrown offa' the rails! How did ya beat him so quickly?"
"Three possible explanations, AJ! One, I'm stronger than him, and he just caught me off guard. Two, ponies like him are just filler until we get Canterlot since Joe's too chicken to get us himself. Three, the author just ran out of ideas to keep that fight interesting!"
>"Ah can believe the first two, but what was that last bit?"
"Oh, it was nothing. Just a few theories!"
>Moving on from that, you take a deep breath and ignore your stomach rumbling
>You could go for a few sweets right now, but it's bad practice to hoard everything for yourself
>But it doesn't matter, since you can see the Canterlot train station right there, with no one standing around
>THANK LUNA THIS TREK IS OVER AT LAST
>Using 「PPP」, you get every member of your little group and teleport to the station before anyone sees you
>As you all gather your bearings, Terra's shaken, but taps you on the shoulder
>"Pinkie? Where are we going now?"
"That's a good question. Hm..."

>Looking around, you decide to ask a nearby pony where the National Dessert Competition is
>You begin your inquiry with a local; a plain-looking stallion with silver eyes and a green-and-orange scarf
"Excuse me! Do you know where the National Dessert Competition is?"
>He looks back with shock, but smiles and points east towards a crowd of ponies in the streets
>"Right over there! Take a left, and if you see the princess walking around, you're there!"
"Thank you!"
>Zooming through the ponies (much to the chagrin of the AJ and the rest), you slow down so the others will catch up
>Blaze is annoyed, looking around for the princess so she can get this over with
>"Where is she? I want to get this over with so we can see Quartz!"
"Soon! The patch is right over there!"
>You remain calm as you and the rest head over to the competition, before being stopped by the guards, with one blocking the entrance
>"Papers, please."
>The other guard scoffs, looking towards the other one with a frustrated expression
>"Rookie, that's for the border checkpoints, not the desserts! Ask for the invites!"
>"Show me the invites."
>"Kid's got the personality for the Royal Guard, at least..."
>You show him the two invites for you and AJ, which detail five other ponies coming along with you
>(While the five ponies were referring to Fluttershy, AJ, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight, you can just say that you, Applejack, Terra, Blaze, and Lilac are the group altogether)
"Here you go!"
>"Invites are legitimate. Cause no trouble."
>"You're hopeless, kid."

>Inside the clearing, you look around and marvel at all the sweets and confectionaries you can see
>Apple fritters oozing with sugar and sweet apples
>Chocolate cake with flavor and texture so delicious you would have thought it was Made in Heaven
>Milkshakes that not only bring all the foals to the yard, they bring the fillies, too
>You're not going to get stares for that last remark, are you?
>Anyway, none of that matters to you as you have to find the girls and make sure that the girls are okay
>"Pinkie?"
>Terra walks next to you, looking around at all the sweets
>Much like her namesake, she's looking plenty green at everything she's looking at
>She mustn't have a single sweet tooth on her (if anything, she looks like she could go for a salad instead of chocolate)
"Yeah?"
>"Where are we supposed to go now?"
"I'm supposed to be finding my friends! They should be somewhere around here!"
>While you look around, you hear a certain somepony's voice pop up during the cacophony of noise
>"Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned that it is not good to jump to conclusions."
>Wait, what?
>Listening closely, you hear a voice frighteningly similar to yours
>"You have to find out all the facts before saying somepony did something. If you don't, you could end up blaming somepony for something they never did. This could hurt their feelings, and it can make you look really foolish. So from now on, I will always make sure to get all the facts."
>As you rack your brain for an answer, you gasp as you remember what 「Pride and Joy」's ability is
>What baffles you is that the cake you where going to put in is now a mishmash of the other bakers' treats
>Strangely enough, you can see Applejack there too, with Donut Joe nowhere to be seen

>You gather up your little group (with Applejack with you as well? What is going on?), beginning to run to the clearing
>"How's that for a lesson, Princess Celestia?"
>There's no mistaking it; 「Pride and Joy」 has copied you to fit in with your friends
>Twilight nudges the other Pinkie's side, before looking to the cake
>"Care for a bite?"
>"I don't mind if I do!"
>Jumping into the air, Pinkie II devours the entire cake, which leaves a burst of anger coming from your heart
"WAIT RIGHT THERE, YOU FIEND!"
>Applejack appears next to you, shocked at a doppelgänger eating the cake
>The entire clearing becomes silent as the now-bloated Pinkie looks upon you and burps
>"Huh? Who're you?"
>Twilight looks upon you in shock, before looking back at the other pink party pony
>"P-Pinkie? Is this your Pinkie Sense acting up again?"
"Pony Joe! You've REALLY made me mad this time, you dang monster! Using goons to take care of my newfound friends, leaving me to perish on the tracks... Get out here before I tear you to pieces!"
>「PPP」 by your side, you begin to feel another bout of fighting swell in your chest
>Princess Celestia moves away, just as shocked as Twilight is
>The doppelgänger looks around, before pointing at you with a horrified expression
>"T-Twilight! Is that one of those changeling things you were talking about? I thought you said they were fake!"
>"They are, but... Which one of you is the real Pinkie? Which one is the real APPLEJACK?"
"THREE GUESSES, AND THE FIRST TWO DON'T COUNT!"
>Rushing forward before the group you were with could stop you, you get 「PPP」 ready to inflict hurt on your enemy
>This 「MMMystery」 is about to be solved, and you're going to catch the culprit
>ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ...

><=To=Be=Continued====

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PARADOX DIARIES 1

Paradox Name: 「Party Party Party」
Paradox User: PINKIE PIE
Appearance: Sticky Fingaz, although quite a bit of the design is pink and a bit less muscular
Power - B
Speed - C
Range - D (4m)
Durability - A
Precision - D
Potential - A

Pinkie Pie is the Element of Laughter, and the self-proclaimed Party Pony of Ponyville. She enjoys making others laugh, and throwing parties (obviously). 「PPP」 is built off of a key element of comedy, which is slapstick, much akin to Tom and Jerry's hammerspace. Multiple times, Pinkie's used it for jokes and pranks, but never before has she used it in a fighting situation. The reason no one knows it's a Paradox is because many dismiss it as "just Pinkie". However, in Pinkie Sense, Twilight was close to figuring out that something was off about Pinkie; she's just so clever she can hide it.

The main ability of 「PPP」 is the "hammerspace", in which Pinkie can store things, such as the many party things like balloons and party glasses. In addition to that, Pinkie is able to go in the hammerspace and appear in another location, such as when Pinkie zooms off into the air to go throw Twilight a party in the first episode. The hammerspace is similar to 「Burning Down The House」 in Stone Ocean, except it can be utilised much more efficiently.

「PPP」 isn't a quick Paradox, but it can be used to get to places in a hurry. It's not strong, either, but with the right amount of force, it's formidable in a fight. Is it hilarious seeing how Pinkie uses it? You can bet your flank it is. All she has to do is be clever, and who knows what she could pull off?

All in all, 「Party Party Party」 is an average Paradox that is useful offensively and for a cheap laugh, but you can expect Pinkie to use it more for gags than for face-offs. It's more of a comedic Paradox than it is a violent one... Depending on Pinkie's current mood.