//------------------------------// // Race Against Danger // Story: Martha and Skits 2: The Cloned Emperor // by Zenitram Nadroj //------------------------------// Twilight, Helen and the students head to the exit of the cave when Twilight suddenly stops them. “Wait.”, she says. “What is it, Twilight?”, Helen asks. “We’re not alone. I sense lifeforms up ahead.” “You think it’s the goons who trapped us in those cages?”, Sandbar asks. “Maybe. We better be on our guard.” They all prepare themselves. As soon as they see the shadows, the charge. They then stop and see that it’s not the group, but three humans, Twilight’s parents and Chrysalis. “Helen!”, the humans say. “Mom. Dad. Tio Jorge.”, she says. She runs and hugs the other humans. “Wait a minute, those humans are her family?”, Gallus asks. “Yes. This is my mom, Mariella, my dad, Daniel and my uncle, Jorge.” “It’s a pleasure to meet all of you.”, her mother says. “Twilight!” Twilight looks ahead and sees two familiar faces. “Mom. Dad.” She runs and hugs her parents. “Oh, honey, we were so worried about you.”, her mother says. “Oh, Mom, Dad, this is my new friend, Helen.”, she introduces her parents to the girl. “Helen, these are my parents, Twilight Velvet and Night Light.” “Hello there.” “It’s nice to see another human in this area.”, Night says. “Twilight.”, Chrysalis asks as she approaches the alicorn. “Chrysalis. You’re here, too.” “Twilight, we heard you screaming in here. What happened?” “Me and Helen were being chased by a vicious dog.” “A dog?”, Helen’s uncle asks. “Yes. And it actually came from the same world as Helen and her family.” “Hold on. What breed of dog was it?”, Helen’s dad asks. “It was a rottweiler as Helen called it. Why?”, Smolder asks. “Oh, no. It must belong to those crooks that imprisoned us and sent us here.”, Carolina’s dad says. “We’ve gotta get back to the other cave and warn the others that they’re here.”, Chrysalis says. “Wait. Everyone else is alive?”, Helen asks. “Yes. We all took refuge in another cave when we heard a roar.”, her mom says. “So Chrysalis assembled this group to look for you and Twilight.” “Well we better hurry and get back. That freezing spell is gonna wear off any second.”, Twilight says. They all bolt out of the cave. “Your daughter knows how to use a freezing spell?”, Helen’s mom asks. “She has been trained under the authority of the princesses.”, Twilight says. In another part of the land, Keretomatus and his army are waiting for the minions they’ve sent. The minions come back with the members that helped the creatures. “Thank goodness, you’re all alive.”, he says with relief. A shadow growls. “What? You found the source of the aura? What is it?” The shadows growl their answer. “It was…myself? How is this possible?” The imps then growl. “You found a large group of the creatures from both worlds.” He then has a horrifying realization. “Oh, no. If that doppelganger of myself finds all those creatures huddled together, they’ll all be obliterated. We’ve got to find that monster immediately. Everyone spread out and leave no stone unturned. That monster has to be found.” The emperor and all the minions spread out in different directions. “It doesn’t make sense. How can there be two of me in the same location?” In another part of the land, the goons arrive at the cave with their captors. “Well here we are.”, Gimmie says. “Your new home.”, Bumblecrum says. “What exactly are you planning to do with us?”, Thorax asks. “It’s simple, we’re just collecting all of you so we can find that monster easily.”, Neighsay answers. “It’s a good thing I remembered you were friends with that draconequus or whatever he’s called and made those nets completely magic proof.” “My goodness. It seems he would have made a better villain than myself.”, Discord quips. “Now’s not the time for jokes, Discord.”, Cadance says. They all enter the cave and they all see that there is machinery inside. “Whoa!”, they all exclaim. “And I thought Twilight’s lab was more advanced.”, Spike says. Before they are about to put the creatures and kids in their cages, they see the six previous cages are open. “What?! Impossible!”, Weaselegraft says. “What is it, Otis?”, Pablum asks. “The creatures we imprisoned, they’re gone!” “What?!”, they all exclaim. “How is this possible?!”, Neighsay asks. “I put a spell on the locks that can only be broken by myself.” They look down and see that the locks are melted. “Wait a minute. Wasn’t one of those creatures a dragon?”, Kablooey asks. “Yes.” “And dragons breath fire, right?” “Absolutely.” He then realizes. “Oh, I guess I should have made the locks fire proof as well.” “You see what happens when you don’t know how non pony creatures work?”, Spike asks. They then hear barking and turn to the source. It was 001 approaching the group. “What is it, 001?”, Fildgemarker asks. “This is ridiculous. I’ll fix it.”, Neighsay says as he lights his horn. The dog is then covered with aura. “What was that?”, the dog asks. He then gasps. “Oh, my gosh. You made him talk?” “Yes. That way we can get some peace from that horrendous barking.” “Horrendous?”, Rainbow asks. “’Horrendous’ is when something is extremely unpleasant, horrifying or terrible.”, T.D. says. “Now what happened, 001?” “It was that little girl with some winged unicorn.” “Little girl?”, Truman asks. They all gasp in realization. “Helen!” “And that winged unicorn must have been Twilight.”, Shining says. “That alicorn was here?!”, Neighsay exclaims. “Oh, great. Just when I thought this day couldn’t be more horrendous.” Bumblecrum then gets an idea. “Wait a second.”, Bumblecrum says. “What is it?”, Wesealegraft asks. “Maybe we can use these kids and creatures as bait to lure them back in.” “You’re gonna use us as bait? You’re insane.”, Spike says. “No. We’re not insane. We’re creative.”, Pablum says. “There’s a difference.” They then put all the kids and creatures in cages. In another part of the land, Martha, Skits and the other animals are looking for their owners. “Any sign of them?”, Martha asks. “Still nothing.”, Ralphie says. “Oh, where can they be?”, Skits asks. “I’m really getting skittish right now.” “So you’re skittish. That’s funny and I’m Nelson-ish.”, Nelson quips. “No, Nelson.”, Lilly says. “’Skittish’ means unpredictable or easily scared. Right now, he’s skittish, because we’ve been wandering everywhere with no way to defend ourselves.” “Our owners must be worried sick about us.”, Pops says. Suddenly they hear massive flapping. “What was that?”, Martha’s mom asks. “Wait. I recognize that flap.”, Matt says. “It’s that monster again!”, Sarge shouts. “Everyone hide!” They all hide as the monster flies in midair. He then senses something and descends. He looks around and finds nothing “I could’ve sworn I sensed their auras.”, the monster says. “I have to find those creatures. Their lives will be in danger if the one who resembles myself finds them first.” The then takes off and the animals emerge. “Wait. Did he say, the one who resembles himself?”, Skipper asks. “So, he wasn’t conflicted then?”, Cal asks. “Conflicted?”, Persnickety asks. “’Conflicted’ means having or showing confused and mutually inconsistent feelings.”, Caruso says. “So, it’s saying that there’s another monster identical to that one. Is it possible?”, Trina asks. “Well whatever is going on, we just found out that our owners will be in danger if it finds them. We’ve gotta hurry.”, Martha says. In another part of the land, Celestia and Luna search the skies for Twilight and the others. “Sister, wait.”, Luna says. “What is it, Luna?”, Celestia asks. “Down there.” She looks down and sees a group of ponies with creatures like the ones they saw earlier. “It’s the friends and families from Equestria. And they’re with more of those beings we saw earlier.” They descend quickly. The group is traveling when two winged unicorns land in front of them. “Whoa! Where did they come from?”, an elderly being asks. “It’s Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.”, Scootaloo says. “Ponies, we’ve come to free you from these beings.”, Luna says. “Free us? What are you talking about?”, Hondo asks. “We sense that these beings are from the same world as the group of naysayers we came across earlier today.”, Luna says. “Wait a minute. Did those beings happened to be with some unicorn wearing a red cloak?”, a mustached being asks. “Yes.” “Well I promise you they’re not with us.” “It’s true. We’re not imprisoned by them whatsoever.”, Grand Pear says. “You’re not? Then what are you all doing out here?” “We saw those crooks holding our children and their children captive. So we all went to find and rescue them.”, Bow says. “And I have to help too.”, Garble says reluctantly. “Twilight’s friends have been captured?”, Celestia asks. “Yes. We sent a small group to find Twilight, but they never came back.”, Sweetie says. “So we had to go out altogether.” “This is a disaster.”, Luna says. “Celestia, it’s only a matter of time before Twilight gets captured as well.” “Alright. Everyone will have to follow us.”, Celestia says. “We can track Twilight’s aura and follow it. But we all must stay together. Understood?” They all say their agreements. “Very well. Let’s go.” They all head out to find Twilight and the others.