FimFiction Link - Short ID: 392339/no-one-to-remember
Published: Nov '17 — Jan '18
No One to Remember is a 38k Drama fic that follows Twilight as she has to figure out why ponies all around her are disappearing from existence and more importantly, why everyone seems to think she's crazy for believing those ponies existed at all.
The mysterious pony in a trenchcoat becomes pretty damn obvious as the story progresses. Still, I think the author did a good job of conveying the absolutely horrifying urgency of trying to figure out what's going on from Twilight's end. The author also has a pretty good voice in mind for all the characters, I'd say. With that said--
If you couldn't figure it out before the big reveal in chap 7, the mystery pony is an escaped Pinkie clone. She's upset at Twilight's callous disregard of dispelling all the rest of the clones since the Mirror Pool is apparently exceedingly good at copying and pulls no stops when doing so. So, Trenchcoat decides to hurt Twilight back. By forcing her to witness literally everyone else slowly getting wiped from existence.
I take a bit of umbrage with just how extreme Trenchcoat went. Hell, the clones themselves were at fault because they kept, well, cloning. Twilight was simply the one that stepped up to handle the mess they made, but Trenchcoat makes it seem like it was Twi's fault they all existed. And we're also immediately given a reason to defend Twilight's actions-- because the MP is so good at cloning things, every single clone bore the Element of Laughter. The EoH apparently do not like that, so if somehow all the Ponks WERE to not be dispelled, there would've been a 'laughter cataclysm', and all the fun things that entails. But I'm moving away from my main grievance. Trenchcoat went a little far, but the actual problem is this:
Holy shit, Discord is an asshole. He, of course, was the vehicle that Trenchcoat used to repeatedly run Twilight over. Trenchcoat aired her plight, and Discord goes along because he'd never turn down a chance to dunk on Twilight. So he creates the current universe they're in so Twi can go through all that's happening. Now that said universe is imploding, he's ready to take Twilight back because he figured she learned her lesson. This universe will restart, just without the M6, so all the ponies there are essentially doomed to whatever threat rears its head first. Twi obviously doesn't like that, so she drags Trenchcoat along, clones herself and the rest of the M6, and sends the clones back so the ponies there aren't doomed to whatever fate awaits them. Nary an apology ever passes by his lips. The fic ends with him joining the M6 for a party.
All in all, it's a mystery fic that doesn't remain mysterious for very long. The desperation in trying to figure out what's going on carries it more than anything else. I rate this fic "Just a prank, bro!" out of 10, it's just so hilariously fucked up.