//------------------------------// // The Ayes Have It // Story: Martha and Skits 2: The Cloned Emperor // by Zenitram Nadroj //------------------------------// Elsewhere, Celestia and Luna scour the skies looking for Twilight. “Any sign of her?”, Celestia asks. “Nothing.”, Luna says. They look around and sense a powerful aura. “Sister. The monster's aura is coming from that way.” They follow the aura and find a monster in front of imps, shadows and other monsters as they finish putting on their armor and wield their weapons. “My loyal subjects, we're all back together. But with no time to lose.”, the monster says. “Those all those creatures are in serious trouble. We have to find the being who possesses my aura and put a stop to it.” “Wait, another being with the same aura?”, Luna asks. “Well that explains why this aura didn't feel evil.”, Celestia says. “We are at war and this being will stop at nothing to track down those creatures. Right now, two of my minions are keeping an eye on those two dogs. As long as nothing happens to them there's still hope to save them as well as all the other creatures in this land.” They all head to the armory. Celestia and Luna look at each other. “Dogs and other creatures?”, Luna questions. “I guess they must be from the same world as those creatures we saw with Neighsay.”, Celestia says. “Oh, my goodness.” “What is it, Luna?” “If Neighsay and those creatures find that monster, the results will be catastrophic. Everyone in this land will be gone.” “You're right. We've gotta find the others and quick.” They both fly off. “Alright, my subjects. We’ve all suited up.”, he says. “Now we all have to face that being who…” Before he finishes, he senses the aura of the two minions who are with the creatures from the other world. “The minions, their aura is starting to fade.” He then faces his subjects. “Quickly, we must save them, but without being seen by the creatures. If they’re defeated, those creatures will be next.” They then bolt off to rescue the members. Elsewhere, Neighsay and the goons are running, looking for the monster. “Do you sense it, Neighsay?”, Stubble asks. “No. I just lost its aura.”, Neighsay says. “Drat.”, Kablooey says. Suddenly, Neighsay senses something else. “Wait a minute.” He follows the aura and the others follow him. They follow him until he reaches the source. In front of them are the rest of Twilight’s friends, her family, the consorts and more humans. “It’s those kids.”, Weaselegraft says. “What are they doing here?” “Well whoever they are, they’re with the consorts. Let’s get them.” He teleports. “Neighsay, wait!”, Pablum says. The group continues walking, until a unicorn appears before them. “I have you now.” “Neighsay!”, the dragon and mares say in unison. “What are you doing here?!”, Spike asks. “I was just about to ask you all the same thing.” “Well, you’re gonna have to skip the Q and A.”, Thorax says before he and the rest of the consorts confront him. “Unicorn has no reason to be here.”, Rutherford says. They suddenly get caught in a net. “What? Where did this net come from?”, Seaspray asks. “You have me to thank for that.”, a voice says. Seven unfamiliar creatures reach the chancellor. One of them is holding a big device. “Nice shot, Pablum.”, the one in the green suit says. “Thank you, Otis. I’ve been practicing.”, the one in the lab coat says. “You guys?!”, T.D. says. “You’re here too?” “T.D., you know them?”, Shining asks. “Unfortunately, yes.”, Truman answers. “They all used some sort of monster to imprison all of us and then sent us here.”, Carolina says. “A monster?”, Spike asks. “Do you think it’s the same monster that attacked us?”, Flutters asks. “It could be,”, Milo says. “Well in any case, now we have the consorts of those students.”, Neighsay says. “Hey, you better release them this instant.”, Spike proclaims. He then looks at Spike and realizes. “Oh, my goodness. Why didn’t I see this before?” “Looks like he’s getting it.”, Pinkie says. “I’ve completely forgot that you yourself are a dragon, so you must be deported as well.” “What?!”, the group says. “Or maybe not.” "Wait. What's deported?", T.D. asks. "'Deport' means to expel someone from a country, typically on the grounds of illegal status or for having committed a crime.", Shining says. “You can’t abolish me. I was born in Canterlot. Which makes me an official Equestrian citizen.” “Well we can change that.” “What you talkin bout?”, Ronald asks. “Once all the non pony creatures are detained, I’ll be able to renounce this dragon’s citizenship and have him thrown out of the kingdom along with the other creatures.” “Celestia has the right to say who is tolerant of whoever they speak with.” “To Tartarus with Celestia!” The creatures gasp. “You better take that back, right now!”, Rainbow says. “No. But we can take all of you back to our hideout.”, Pablum says as he shoots nets to all of the members. Elsewhere, the group keep their guard up as they head to the cave. “Chrysalis, are we close to them yet?”, Helen’s dad asks. “Almost. They’re aura is right…. here.”, she says. They suddenly hear screaming and start panicking. “That sounds like Helen.”, Helen’s mom says. “And that sounds like Twilight.”, Twilight says. “They must be in trouble.”, Night says. “We’ve gotta get in there.”, Carolina’s dad says. They all run into the cave. Inside, Helen and Twilight are still running from the rottweiler. Twilight suddenly trips. The rottweiler’s almost got them, but Twilight uses her freeze spell and the dog is frozen. They both breath heavily. “That was close.”, Twilight says. “Way too close.”, Helen says. “Good thing I still remembered that freeze spell.” “Yeah. But we still don’t know how to get your students out of the cages.” “Wait a minute.”, Smolder says. “I’m a dragon. I could just melt the locks off.” Her friends stare at her in disbelief. “What?” “It took you an hour to realize that you’re a dragon and you can melt the locks off.”, Ocellus says. She then starts blushing. “Wow, do I have egg on my face.” She takes a deep breath and breathes fire on the locks of Sandbar and Gallus’s cages. And then Yona, Ocellus and Silver Stream’s. And finally, her own. They all open the cages and get out. “Alright. Let’s go. That spell isn’t gonna keep that dog frozen forever.”, Twilight says before they all head out. Elsewhere, Celestia and Luna are still looking for Twilight, when Luna sees something below. “Sister, look.”, she says as Celestia looks down as well. Below them are two minions fighting a monster that looked exactly like the monster they saw earlier. “Wait a minute. That looks like the same monster we saw earlier.” “How can there be two monsters in the same area?” “Well whatever the case is, we need to help those creatures.” They descend from the sky. The minions are becoming exhausted and the monster is about to finish them. The alicorns land in front of him and shine their light. The monster screams in agony. “My eyes!” “You’re free. Quick, go before he regains his vision.” The minions fly off. The monster regains his vision and looks around. “What? Where did they go?”, the monster asks. He looks to the strange equines. “Why you.” Before he attacks them, he senses the aura again. “You two are free to go. I have more important things to do right now.” It spreads its wings and takes off. “You saved us.”, a voice says. They look behind them and see animals emerging. “Oh, my gosh. What are these animals doing here?”, Celestia asks. “So, there’s more talking animals here?”, the yellow dog asks. “Wow. That’s unexpected.”, the brown dog says. “Oh, my gosh. Did you just talk?”, Luna asks. “Yes. We all can talk.”, a lion cub says. “What happened to the monster?”, another one asks. “He flew away. You’re all safe now.”, Celestia says. “Thank you very much. Do you think you can help us find our owners?”, a cat asks. “I’m sorry. But we have to find our friends. Hopefully you’ll be able to find them.” They then fly off. “Do they really expect us to find our owners by ourselves without any protection?”, an elderly dog asks. “Well everyone, it looks like we’re on our own now. So, let’s get going.”, an elephant says. They all start traveling. Back in the cave, the families and friends are still waiting for the group who left to find the missing daughters. “What’s taking them so long?”, Babs asks. “The spell’s about to wear off.” “I don’t know, Babs.”, Gabby says. Suddenly the spell then wears off. “Oh, great. The spell’s broken.”, Igneous says. “Where are they?” “Oh, forget this. We can’t stay in here forever.”, Limestone says. “Let’s go find them.” “Limestone, we can’t leave.”, AB says. “Chrysalis said if we all leave, some of us might not come back alive.” “She’s right.”, Big Mac says. “Are you really gonna risk your necks just to find the group?” She then growls and relents. “So how the heck are we supposed to find them if we can’t leave the cave?” “Shh. Someone’s coming.”, Pharynx says. They all hide. “Someone has to go out there and see who it is.”, Windy whispers. “I’ll check.”, Milo’s dad says. He tiptoes to the entrance and takes a peek. Outside are the group who imprisoned them in their world. “It’s those goons again.”, he whispers under his breath. He then notices they’re carrying nets with creatures inside. His eyes then widen as he sees that the kids are in the nets, including his son. He waits for the group to be gone and runs back inside. “Everyone, listen up!” “What’s going on, Terrance?”, Alice and Ronald’s dad asks. “It’s those guys who imprisoned us back in our world.” “Que? How is this possible?”, Helen’s abuelo asks. “And what’s more they have some other creatures in nets and they have the children as well.” The group all start panicking. "Wait, what creatures did crooks take?", a yak guard asks. "Aside from our children, they've also taken, a hippogriff, a yak, a changeling, a griffon, two dragons, a tall lanky animal with multiple limbs from different animals, and some ponies with them." "That griffon must have been General Sea Spray.", Terremar says. "He was our daughter's consort.", Sky Beak says. "That griffon must have been my grandfather, Grandpa Gruff.", Gilda says. "I hope he's alright.", Gabby says. "That changeling must've been my brother, Thorax. Those crooks will pay for this.", Pharynx exclaims. "Yak must be Prince Rutherford.", A yak guard says. "Must save prince now.", the other says. "The creature with many animals limbs must be Discord.", Zephyr says. "I'm surprised he didn't use his magic to break free." “They’ve captured the children?”, T.D.’s dad says. “How are we gonna save them?”, Truman’s mom asks. They all continue panicking until they're stopped by laughing. They turn to the source of the laughter. It was Garble laughing hysterically. "Oh, my gosh. Those two dragons seriously couldn't put up a fight.", he says as he wipe a tear from his eye. "Oh, that's just rich." They all glare at him. "What?" "How can you be so insensitive?", Truman's mom asks. "I'm not insensitive, I've never been so insensitive. Why don't we all become insensitive." "You have no idea what 'insensitive' means, do you?", Truman's dad asks. "Not a clue." "'Insensitive' means showing or feeling no concern for others' feelings. How can you be so thoughtless?" "That wimp really needs to learn how to stand up for himself." "Listen here, dragon.", Gilda says. "We can tolerate your quips, you taking our food or even breathing fire for pranking, but you are not allowed to talk down to our captive friends. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have known who we are and got along." "They're right.", L.C. says. "So you better shape up your image and at least act sympathetic to your friends. Otherwise, if they're gone, whatever is out there will come for us next." He looks at all the glaring faces and sighs in defeat. "Fine. I guess I'll be sympathetic at least for today.", he says. “Looks like we don’t have a choice.”, T.D.’s mom says. “We better go with Limestone’s idea.” They all look at each other, considering the idea. “They’re right.”, Grand Pear says. “The longer we stay here, the less hope there is that they’ll come back alive.” “All in favor of leaving this cave, say aye.”, Helen’s grandpa says. “Aye!” “The ayes have it. Let’s go.” They all leave the cave.