It seemed like a normal day, Scootaloo and the rest of the CMC were at the clubhouse, waiting for Timid Swallow and Mischief.
"...Where is she?" Scootaloo wondered as she looked out the window for Timid, "She was supposed to be here a few minutes ago."
"Maybe she got caught up in something?" Sweetie Belle guessed.
"I'm sure she'll be here soon," Applebloom assured.
"Speaking of Timid; here she comes now," Scootaloo said as she saw Timid coming towards the clubhouse, panting a bit as Mischief rode in her backpack, "Hey Timid! Where were you?!"
"G...Gomen, Scootaloo-san! I...I was helping F...Fluttershy-san out with something!" Timid explained, speaking a bit louder… well… loud in her tone of voice since she's almost quiet most of the time.
"What exactly? Helping her watch some of the animals she watches over?" Applebloom asked as she poked her head out the window.
"Ano...h...h...hai," Timid nodded, "S...some of them were really nice."
"Except that Angel bunny," Mischief mumbled.
"What was that?" Timid asked, hearing Mischief say that, as she prepared to use the 'Stare' on him.
"N...nothing ma'am!" Mischief yelped a bit as he hopped out of the backpack while thinking, 'Tch! Angel Bunny...that little menace was anything but an angel!'
"What's got Mischief upset?" Sweetie Belle asked, the unicorn filly popping her head out the other window.
"I...I don't know. Demo...I...I think he and F...Fluttershy-san's pet bunny don't get along well," Timid answered.
"..." Mischief was about to say something, pointing one finger up before he slowly curled it back up, the small dragon afraid of getting the 'Stare' from Timid.
"I can definitely imagine that for some reason," Sweetie Belle replied, trying to hold back a giggle.
"Agreed," Scootaloo snickered before an idea popped into her head, "...Girls...I think I know how we can get our Cutie Marks!"
"Really? How?" the rest of the CMC asked.
"Well...you can thank Timid for giving me the idea," the Pegasus filly grinned as she pointed at Timid.
"Ano...I...I did?" Timid blinked.
"Yea, you did. Specifically, we're going see if we can take care of one of the animals under Fluttershy's care!" Scootaloo declared.
"Really?/WHAT?!" the rest of the CMC and Mischief gasped, the dragon yelling as thought's of taking care of… "him" filled his head.
"Nuh uh! Absolutely no…" Mischief began before Timid gave him the 'stare', mainly for yelling like that, "...Shutting up."
"So...we're all in agreement?" Scootaloo asked her fellow CMC.
"As Big Mac would say: Eeyup," Applebloom nodded.
"I'm in!" Sweetie Belle added.
"M...Me too..." Timid nodded, the shy pegasus filly feeling a bit excited in taking care of one of Fluttershy's animals.
"It's settled then. We're gonna take care of one of Fluttershy's animals starting today!" Scootaloo replied before she, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom declared…
"Cutie Mark Crusaders: Animal Caretakers!" the three declared, earnings confused looks from Timid and Mischief.
"...Okay. I'll ask since Timid's a bit confused by what you just did. Just what was that about?" Mischief asked.
"...Oh, it's just our little thing we do when we decide on something," Scootaloo answered.
"...Uh huh…" Mischief slowly nodded as he went back into Timid's backpack, his appearance changing to have him wearing footy pajamas with a butt flap, "If anypony needs me, I'll be taking a nap."
"A...ano…" Timid began.
"Come on, Timid...you can do it to. After all, you're a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders now," Scootaloo smiled a bit at Timid.
"...O...okay," Timid nodded before declaring quietly, "C...Cutie Mark Crusaders: Animal Caretakers! Y...Yay!"
"..."
"...T...Too loud?" Timid asked.
"...Nevermind…we-we'll work on it later. So, let's just go," Scootaloo sighed.
---
"Ano...I...I don't' know if F...Fluttershy-san is h-home, minna," Timid stuttered as the CMC stood in front of Fluttershy's home.
"She has to be...unless she's out getting some food for the animals. But just to make su…" Scootaloo began until Applebloom tapped her on the shoulder before pointing at the window
"Let's try checking the window a bit to see if she's home or not," Applebloom suggested.
With a nod, Scootaloo jumped up to the window to see Fluttershy and Twilight, the violet Alicorn using her magic to help Fluttershy open what appeared to be a box, the shy pegasus letting out a soft squeal as she picked up whatever was in the box.
"I see her… and she just picked something up from a box," Scootaloo stated, the pegasus filly trying her best to stay in the air with her tiny wings
"What is she holding?" Sweetie Belle asked as she and the rest of the CMC looked up at their friend.
"Don't know...maybe if I...woah!" Scootaloo yelped as she fell to the ground, her wings finally giving out, "...Darn."
"Are you okay?" AppleBloom asked Scootaloo.
"Yeah…" Scootaloo nodded before sighing as she looked at her wings, "If my wings held on longer, I could've seen what Fluttershy was holding."
"Let me try something," AppleBloom replied, going off for a second before moving a small barrel under the window and jumping up to get a good look, and she saw Fluttershy and Twilight were still there, but now Fluttershy was holding a small bundle of fur… but she couldn't seem to make out what it was exactly.
"See anything, Applebloom?" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle asked in unison.
"Ah think so…Ah can't make out what Fluttershy is holding," Applebloom replied, trying to get a good look at what the shy pegasus was holding, "Let's see… it looks like it's got some… red fur…I think…and...it has...w-woah!" she yelped when she began to lose her balance on the barrel before the Filly fell into the bushes just underneath one of the front windows.
"Applebloom! Are you.." Sweetie Belle began.
"H...Hello? Is anypony out there?" Fluttershy's voice asked from the other side of the door.
"Uh oh...hide!" Scootaloo whispered as she and Sweetie Belle dove into the same bushes Applebloom fell in.
"A...Ano…" Timid stuttered a bit as she was about to try and jump into the bushes as well, only to stop in her tracks as the door opened.
"Oh, Timid. Is everything ok? I thought I heard something out here," Fluttershy replied when the mare saw the young filly near the bushes.
"...A...Ano...I...I…" Timid began, the shy filly berating herself a bit since she was about to do something she would never do...lie, "I...I thought I dropped something on m-my way out."
"...Do you need any help?" Fluttershy asked.
"Uh...n...no! I...I can look for it myself," Timid replied with a stutter.
"...Okaaay...actually Timid...can you help me with something since you're here?" Fluttershy asked.
"A-ano… hai," Timid Swallow nodded.
"Good. I need to head to the market real quick to pick up some food for the animal Princess Celestia asked me and Twilight to take care of for today," Fluttershy stated as mentioned Alicorn came out, holding a few bags to carry the needed food in, "Can you look after my place while we're gone?"
"A...Ano...h...hai, F...Fluttershy-san," Timid nodded in response.
"Arigatou, Timid-chan," Fluttershy smiled as she and Twilight took off, letting Timid enter Fluttershy's house, the rest of the CMC coming in only after the older mares flew off far enough.
"You heard that right?" Applebloom asked her friends.
"Yeah...that thing Fluttershy was holding was from the Princess!" Scootaloo said in a semi-excited voice, "If we take good care of it, we're bound to get our Cutie Marks!"
"Yeah! But...what animal did she send?" Sweetie Belle asked out of curiosity.
"...Don't' know," Scootaloo shrugged, "Do you have any...Timid?" she blinked when she noticed the shy Filly wasn't there anymore, "...Where'd she go?"
"Ah think she went to look inside that…" Applebloom began.
"KAWAII!" Timid's voice squealed from inside the box.
"...Kawaii?" the rest of the CMC looked at each other in confusion, not knowing what that word means.
"Cute! I found something very cute in here!" Timid answered, her voice sounding much louder than it would normally sound anyway.
"...It can't be that cute...can it?" Scootaloo asked her friends.
"I don't' know...I'll check it out first," Sweetie Belle suggested as she walked over to the box Timid was in before the Unicorn filly walked inside it.
"...Anything Sweetie…" Scootaloo began before she and Applebloom heard Sweetie Belle let out a squeal of delight.
"Oh my Celestia! She's SO CUTE!" Sweetie Belle's voice squealed from inside the box.
"What is it, anyway?" Scootaloo asked, confused by that
"This!" Sweetie Belle replied as she and Timid came out of the box before looking back at something in it, "Come on...don't be shy."
A few moments of silence passed before what looked like a small muzzle poked out of the box, sniffing the air for a moment. After that, the own of the muzzle slowly crawled out of the box, revealing it was a small, fox kit with orange and white fur and...9 small tails? However, the CMC didn't notice the tails as they saw it's small, sapphire blue eyes looking at them cutely, almost as if she were observing them.
"Awww! She's so CUTE!" Scootaloo and Applebloom smiled.
"I know! She's like a little fluff ball you just want to hug!" Sweetie Belle squealed, the unicorn filly resisting the urge to glomp the small kit.
"So… what is she, anyway?" Scootaloo asked.
"Ah don't know...she looks like a fox. But ah don't think foxes are supposed to have nine tails," Applebloom noted, looking at the nine, swishing tails on the fox kit.
"Oh… I see!" Timid Swallow gasped, seeing the tails and recognizing what the little kit was, "It's a Kitsune!"
"A what?" Sweetie Belle asked as she, Applebloom, and Scootaloo looked at the shy pegasus.
"A kitsune, a…a small fox that has more than one tail," Timid answered, "Th...They're creatures that are very hard to find in Neighpon."
"Wow~," Applebloom and Sweetie Belle awed.
"Cool…" Scootaloo awed as well, "...Does she have a name?"
"A...Ano...I...I'm not sure. I...I couldn't help but gush over her to see," Timid admittedly nervously.
"Maybe this paper I found inside the box might help," Sweetie Bell asked as she walked back inside the box before carrying out a piece of paper and placed it on a nearby table.
"What does it say?" Applebloom asked.
"...I can't make any of this out. It's written in Neighponese," Sweetie Belle replied with a small sigh before she gasped a bit, "Maybe Timid can read it!"
Then, Sweetie Belle just handed the paper to Timid, who felt nervous being put on the spot like she was.
"A...Ano…" Timid gulped a bit before taking a calm breath as she looked at the paper, "Ano...I...it's addressed to C...Celestia-Hime," she looked up at the confused CMC, "H...Hime means p...Princess."
"Oh~" the three nodded before looking anxiously to hear what the rest of the note said.
"Hai. L...Let's s...see here…" Timid began as she read the note, "C...Celestia-Hime...I...I need you to find this young one a h...home. You see...her family was...o...oh my…"
"What? Her family was what?" Sweetie Belle asked before she and her friends saw a small tear escape from Timid's eye, "...Timid?"
"H...Her family was k...killed by poachers," timid whispered?
"Poachers!" Applebloom gasped.
"You know what those are, Applebloom?" Scootaloo asked her friend.
"Yes...Ah heard Poachers are really bad Ponies that go and capture rare and exotic animal so they can sell them. If they can't get a certain animal...th...they kill it," Applebloom explained, earning shocked looks from her two friends.
"Oh my…" Sweetie Belle gasped, simply stunned by this revelation.
"Poor little girl...she lost her family…" Scootaloo said sadly as she and the rest of the CMC sadly looked at the small, fox kit, who appeared to be sleeping at the moment.
"...I'm glad Fluttershy's taking good care of her, though," Timid admitted, a small sad smile on the shy fillies face, "S...she'll take good care of Y..Yuki-chan."
"Yeah…" Applebloom nodded before blinking, "...Yuki?"
"Th...that's what I w...wanted to c...call her b..because the white parts of her fur remind me of snow," Timid explained, "A...And 'Yuki' means 'Snow.'"
"Oh…" the CMC nodded again.
"I like it," Sweetie Belle noted with a small smile.
"Me too," Applebloom added.
"...Well… I guess it fits," Scootaloo replied with a shrug, "So...let's…"
"Hey keep it down. I'm trying to wake up here," Mischief's voice groaned as he poked his head out of Timid Swallow's backpack, wearing a nightcap in his footy pajamas with a butt flap as he held a cup of coffee, "What's with all the noise out here anyway?"
"Misty…" Timid sighed before Mischief saw the young kit, causing the dragon to do a spit take.
"FOX!-!-!-!-!-!-!" Mischief yelled as he jumped out of Timid's backpack and clinged to the Ceiling of Fluttershy's house like a scared cat.
"What're you so scared of?" Scootaloo asked the frightened dragon.
"KEEP THAT...THAT THING AWAY FROM ME! I HATE FOXES!" Mischief yelled, his butt flap opening, "Wait...is that thing from Neighpon by any chance?"
"...Yea. Why?"
"Because I hate hate HATE those kinds! Freaking troublemakers all of them!" Mischief yelled.
"...Oh!" Timid realized where Mischief was going with that as she looked at her friends, "I...I think I know why M..Mischief's scared of Yuki. I...I heard Neighponese Fox Spirits are notorious tricksters and like to play pranks on anypony they see."
"...Really?" Scootaloo asked, confused still.
"H...Hai. O...One trick they like pulling on Ponies are turning into an exact clone of them and gets them into trouble."
"And that's exactly WHY I hate them! Do you know how many times I got in trouble because of those furry devils?! A LOT!" Mischief snapped before he felt his grip on the ceiling starting to come loose, "...Oh blitznak." he then began to fall to the floor, but not before quickly turning around to land on his feet just as he was an inch from touching the floor. He then gave a look at the reader, "What? ...oh don't' look at me like that. Everypony knows Gods and Demi Gods of Chaos always…"
"..." Yuki let out a small yawn as she woke up, stretching a bit as her tails swished a bit, one of which touching Mischief's back.
"GIYAAH~! IT TOUCHED ME~!" Mischief yelled in a high-pitched voice as he rushed back into Timid's backpack, but not before placing a sign that said 'I'm not coming out until that furry devil leaves! ...unless there's candy involved.'
"...Oookaaaay," Scootaloo sweatdropped a bit before she looked at her fellow CMC, "Why don't' we try and find something for Yuki to eat? And afterwards, we can play with her."
"Sounds good to me. But...what do Kitsune's eat?" Applebloom asked.
"Don't know...let's try pulling out some different food and see what works," Scootaloo suggested as she rushed for the kitchin.
"Ano… wasn't Fluttershy-san and Twilight-san going to get some food for her?" Timid asked, causing Scootaloo to skid to a halt.
"...You're right. I almost forgot, " Scootaloo chuckled sheepishly, "So... guess until they come back...we'll play with Yuki a bit."
"Sounds good to me but...does Yuki want to play?" Applebloom asked, looking down at the fox kit.
"I don't know. But it can't help but ask," Sweetie Bell suggested a she bent down to the small kit, "Yuki...do you want to play girl?"
Yuki's ears rose up at that as her tails began to wag in a playful way.
"We'll take that as a yes," Scootaloo said as she looked at her fellow CMC, "Girls...Hide and seek!"
"R...right/hai," Applebloom and the others nodded as the four fillies ran around the house to find various spots to hide.
After the CMC disappeared, Yuki sniffed the air a bit to look for them. She continued to sniff around the area before she began to sniff under the couch. Unfortunately, that caused her to sneeze as she skidded back a bit. When she looked up, she saw...herself?
Both Yuki's looked at each other in confusion before sniffing each other, causing them to sneeze in unison as two more Yuki's popped up again.
The four fox kits looked at each other in confusion before they sniffed the air, going to different parts of the house. One of the kits soon found Applebloom, quite easily.
"Aww~! Ya found me, Yuki!" Applebloom giggled a bit, the filly hiding behind one of the curtains in the living room.
"That's weird...she found me too," Sweetie Belle spoke, poking her head out from behind the couch with Yuki 2.
"...What the?" Applebloom began in confusion, looking between the Yuki that found her and the Yuki that found Sweetie Belle, "What's going on?"
"I don't know," Sweetie Belle shrugged until they saw another Yuki find Scootaloo, who was tryng to hide inside the box Yuki was in.
"Aw man. You found..me?" Scootaloo blinked when she noticed three of Yuki, "...uh..what's going on?"
"I don't know," the other two shrugged.
"...Do you think it has something to do with what Mischief and Timid said?" Scootaloo asked before she notice a fourth Yuki sniffing the closet.
Then, the little Kit started to paw at the closet door to try and get it open.
"Y...you found me Y-Yuki...chan?" Timid blinked in confusion once she opened the door to see the 4 Yukis, "...U...Uh oh. I...I didn't think s-she could figure this out e-early."
"What do you mean?" Scootaloo asked, confused.
"I...I heard once K...Kitsune kits get older, th...they learn how to do tricks l-like cloning itself," timid replied before two of the Yuki Clones sneezed, producing two more.
"Um...what else can they learn to do?" Sweetie Belle asked nervously, seeing one of the Yuki's looking at a group picture of Fluttershy and her friends.
"Ano...th-they can...uh oh," Timid paled a bit, recalling what Mischief said about Neighponese foxes.
"What?" Applebloom asked before she noticed the other Yuki's gathering around the other one, looking at the picture as well.
"Th...they can turn into Anypony they see…" Timid gulped.
"...That doesn't' include pictures...does…?" Scootaloo began before she noticed one of the Yuki's shaking her paw, suddenly turning it into a familiar pink hoof.
The cloned kit then shook her entire body before she was now an exact copy of Pinkie Pie. Well… kinda exact copy as her Cutie Mark was replaced with the Kanji for 'Laughter'.
"Whoa…" the CMC gawked.
The other Fox kits looked at 'Pinkie' before looking at each other, almost like they were saying 'Let's try that too!'. With a sudden shake, the other 5 Kit clones turned into copies of Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity, each with the respective Kanji for 'Magic', 'Kindness', 'Loyalty', 'Honesty', and 'Generosity' as their Cutie Marks.
"Uh… is this bad?" Applebloom nervously asked Timid Swallow.
"H..hai," Timid nodded with a gulp, "M...Misty!"
"What? I'm trying to watch my…" Mischief, who had popped his head out of Timid's backpack, snapped before he noticed the cloned 'Mane 6', "..." he then slowly brought a gong out and rung it.
"What was that about?" Scootaloo asked the dragon in confusion.
"That, my little fillies...is chaos about to befall on Ponyville," Mischief stated ominously, wearing a Chinese elder's outfit compete with thin whisker-like mustache and white hair done in a small top.
"Uh oh," the CMC gulped.
"Oh yeah...so you better get them back to normal or..." Mischief began before the 'Mane 6' opened the door and ran out, "...Too late."
"Great… now what do we do?!" Sweetie Belle almost panicked.
"I don't...uh oh," Scootaloo paled when she spotted the clones about to sneeze, which could only mean one thing.
The 'Mane 6' sneezed, producing 6 more clones before said clones sneezed, producing more clones.
"Oh great… it sounds like what happened with Pinkie before…" Applebloom recalled from what her sister told her.
"Yeah...but this time, we're not just dealing with multiple Pinkies," Scootaloo added with a gulp.
"Yea… instead it's multiples of everypony," Sweetie noted.
"Speaking of…" Mischief began as he pulled out a horn and blew on it just as the clones began to leave, "They're off!"
"We gotta do something and fast!" Applebloom gawked.
"Let's split up and try to look for the original Yuki!" Scootaloo ordered.
"Sp...Split up?" Timid repeated with a stutter.
"It's the best chance to find them," Scootaloo answered.
"R...Right," Timid nodded as Mischief stayed on her back, wearing a riding uniform for a hunt.
"Onward! Onto...The Hunt!" Mischief declared in a British accent.
And so, the four rushed out and ran off in four different directions, but not before Timid locked Fluttershy's house, just to be safe.
---
"Spike, you still can't be mad about your little change," Twilight giggled as she recall Spike getting changed into a female.
"I thought I told you not to bring that up, Twilight," Spike grumbled, the dragon having to accompany Twilight and Fluttershy at the market.
"Ooh and Rarity had such fun using you as her model" Twilight teased, causing Spike to blush heavily.
"..." Fluttershy giggled a bit before she felt the ground starting to rumble, "...Um...do you feel that?"
"...A little, why?" Twilight asked.
"..." Fluttershy was about to reply before she noticed a large herd heading their way..a large herd consisting of...herself and Twilight?
"Wh...what the hay?!" Twilight gawked before she, Spike, and Fluttershy jumped out of the way as the herd of clones charged through the marketplace, starting to eat everything in site.
"Hey! You need to afford th…" the Cherry Vendor (from Putting your Hoof Down) began before the two Fluttershy's eating his supply of Cherries growled at him, "...I mean..help yourselves out ladies!"
"...they should be Flutterbats," Spike sweatdropped at the sight.
"Yeah…" Twilight sweatdropped as well before shaking it off, "Wait a minute! What the hay is going on around here?!"
"Deja vu…" Spike noted, remembering the time when multiple Pinkies were all over the place.
"Y...Yuki!" a certain, shy filly called out as she ran into the area, her eyes widened as she watched the Twilight and FLuttershy clones wreck the market place, "Oh no...p-please dont' tell me she's…"
"Timid?" Fluttershy spoke as she poked her head out from her and Twilight's hiding place, "Wh-what're you doing here? I...I thought…?"
"N...no time, F...Fluttershy-san! I..I gotta find Y..Yuki-chan!" Timid replied.
"Yuki?" Twiligth and Fluttershy blinked.
"H...hai. Th...that a...animal c..Celestia-hime asked you to take care of...g...gomen!" Timid apologized as she ran off.
"...the baby fox!" Twilight and Fluttershy gasped, realizing what Timid meant before they leapt from their hiding place to catch up with the shy filly.
"Hey! W...wait up!" Spike yelled as he ran after them.
---
"I...I heard of liking yourself a lot, but this is ridiculous!" Rarity gasped as she watched clones of herself wreck her home/tailor shop. She then quickly grabbed one dress that was about to get torn to shreds by one of the clones before another one grabbed the end of it, resulting in a tug-of-war, "L...Let go of my dress, you! I...I mean me! Y..You know what I mean! Oh...where's Pinkie when you need her?!"
"Whee!" said pink party pony cheered as she and her clones played some games.
"...I've should've known," Rarity sweatdropped before she fell to the floor when the clone biting on her dress tugged on it, causing the Unicorn to let go as she watched 'herself' chew the dress like crazy, "NO~! It took me days to make that dress!"
"Oh come on Rarity! There's no need t-YEOWCH!" Pinkie yelped when one of her clones bit her tail, "Hey! That is NOT a chew toy!"
"Doesn't this feel… familiar?" Rarity asked Pinkie.
"Yeah...it's like what happened when I made all those clones with the Mirror Pool," Pinkie replied, trying to pull her tail away from her clone.
"I know...but..something…" Rarity began before Sweetie Belle came in.
"Yuki! Where are you girl?!" Sweetie Belle called out as she ran upstairs to look for the original.
"...Who is this Yuki, Sweetie Belle's searching for?" Rarity pondered.
"Probably this extremely cute fox kit with nine tails and could create clones and turn into copies of other ponies," Pinkie stated after she finally pulled her tail free, "Or it could be a Changeling. Whichever it is."
"..." Rarity sighed at that as she got up and ran up stairs to figure out what her sister knows about this.
"Ooh! Wait for me! I wanna come too!" Pinkie said as she ran, or rather jumped, after the Unicorn.
Upstairs, Sweetie Belle searched in a panic for the kit or the ponies she disguised herself as.
"Come on...where is she...where is she?!" Sweetie Belle said in a panicked tone before she saw the clone of her sister mess her bed up, "H...hey! Get off of there!"
The Rarity clone giggled as she jumped off the bed and landed in the closet.
"Get back here!" Sweetie shouted, trying to follow the clone, only for said clone to bury the unicorn filly in a pile of cloths.
"Sweetie Belle? Sweetie Belle, where are you?!" Rarity called out once she reached upstairs.
"Oh… sis!" Sweetie gasped, poking her head out from underneath the clothes pile.
"Sweetie Belle, what in Equestria is going on?! Why are there so many clones of me and Pinkie Pie?!" Rarity asked as mentioned Pink party pony jumped up the stairs and reached the top.
"I don't think you'd believe me if I told you," Sweetie answered.
"Ooh! Ooh! Does it involve a small extremely cute baby fox with nine tails Fluttershy and Twilight were supposed to take care of but you and your friends were taking care of it for them while they were out with said baby fox having the ability to clone itself and turn into other Ponies?" Pinkie asked in one, long breath.
"...Pinkie...I doubt that…" Rarity began with a sweatdrop.
"Actually...that's what happening kinda," Sweetie Belle replied.
"Wow, really?!" Pinkie gasped.
"Yeah...she kinda got out. So me and my friends have to find her before something bad happens," Sweetie Belle stated.
"So… where exactly are these… foxes… impersonating us?" Rarity asked her sister.
"Well...most of the clones Yuki turned into are in here…" Sweetie Belle replied as she watched the clones tear the place apart, "Though...I can't tell which one's the real one."
"...Why don't we try gathering all the clones up? That way, it would be easier to find the original," Pinkie suggested.
"It won't be easy," Sweetie Belle pointed out, "By now, there's probably a TON of clones of you guys and the others around Ponyville."
"...Then we just have to get them all in the same spot!" Pinkie said as she zoomed out the room before coming back in, wearing a...cat costume?, "Just call me Pinkie cat! Or Kitty Pie. Which ever works."
"...Pinkie. I don't think that'll…" Rarity began before all the clones stopped what they were doing and spotted Pinkie, or rather...Pinkie cat.
"..." the clones began to growl.
"See? it's working. Now if you'll excuse me…" Pinkie said before she let out a cat-like screech as she zoomed out of their, the clones barking and yipping like dogs.
"...That was… weird…" Sweetie Belle admitted.
"Agreed. ...Let's pretend that never happened," Rarity stated.
"Pretend what never happened?"
"Exactly."
---
"Hey! Put that cloud back where...Hey! That cloud was supposed to be for today's rain and...HEY! That's my special napping spot!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she tried to stop clones of herself from messing up the clouds over Ponyville, "Sheesh! Just what's going on here?!"
"Grr…!" two clones growled as they played tug-of-war with one cloud.
"Hey! You put that cloud down right now!" RD growled in annoyance as she charged at the two clones, who immediately let go of the cloud, letting the Rainbow-maned Pegasus charge right through as she crashed into the river below, "..." she poked her head out, sitting out what water she got in her mouth, "Okay...now I'm really getting…!"
"Yuki! Where are you?!" Scootaloo yelled as she ran across the bridge of the riven RD was in, the small Pegasus filly stopping when she noticed her idol in said river, "Rainbow Dash? Why are you in the river?"
"Some fillies acting like knock-offs of me kept messing up the clouds," Dash groaned.
"Uh...yeah. Fillies," Scootaloo chuckled nervously.
"...You know something about this, don't you?" Dash responded, somehow recognizing the tone in Scootaloo's voice.
"Well…" Scootaloo began.
"YOO HOO~! OH, DASHIE CLONES~!"
All the Rainbow Dash clones stopped what they were doing to see Pinkie Pie, still wearing the cat suit, waving at them.
"Come and get me!" Pinkie giggled as she bounced away, the Pinkie and Rarity clones still chasing after her before the RD clone gave chase as well.
"...What just happened?" the original Rainbow Dash blinked in confusion with Scootaloo
"Uh… talk later, let's follow those clones!" Scootaloo responded as she galloped after Pinkie and the clones, still confusing Dash.
"..." RD just stood there in confusion before she noticed Sweetie Belle and Rarity run up, "Please tell me you know what's going on?"
"Something happened with a fox Fluttershy had me and the rest of the CMC watch while keeping an eye on her house, and now it's turned into multiple clones and copied the forms of you, Rarity, Pinkie, AJ, Fluttershy, and Twilight," Sweetie Belle answered.
"I see...and those clones that were chasing after Pinkie...was that fox you were talking about?" Rainbow asked.
"Yep," Sweetie nodded.
"I see...well...what're we standing around for?" Rainbow began as she climbed out of the river, shook herself dry, and took off into the air, "Let's go round us up some foxes! Or...ponies? ...y...you know what I mean," she then took of in the direction Pinkie and the clones left in, leaving a wet Rarity and Sweetie Belle, making Rarity in particular groan as the two Unicorns gave chase.
---
"Yuki! Yuki! Where are ya, girl?!" Applebloom yelled as she looked for the fox kit at her family's farm, only to see a dozen clones of her sister messing the place up with the original and Big Mac trying to round them up, "Oh boy…"
"Come on! Get away from there!" Applejack tried to shoo her clones away from the barn before one jumped off her head and away, "...just what in tarnation is goin' on here?!"
"Nope!" Big Mac frowned as he tried to push one clone of his sister away,only for one to poke him from behind with a stick, "Nope!," he tried to get the one behind him, only for the first one to hit him with her tail, irritating him further, "Nope!"
"This is gonna be more trouble than I thought," Applebloom gulped until…
"AJ CLONES~!" they heard before noticing it was Pinkie, saying that in a sing-song tone of sorts.
"What in the hay is Pinkie…?" Applejack began.
"Come and get me~!" the pink, party pony giggled in the sing-song tone as she jumped away, the clones of RD, Pinkie, and Rarity chasing after her before the AJ clones joined the herd of said clones.
"...Big Mac… ya'll have any idea what just happened?" Applejack blinked in confusion.
"Nope." Big Mac answered bluntly.
"It's a bit tricky to explain," Applebloom spoke, causing the two to look at her as she walked up to them.
"What do you mean?" AJ asked her little sister.
"...Well…" Applebloom began.
"Hey!" a certain, rainbow-maned Pegasus spoke as she flew in, "Did anypony happen to see a bunch of foxes that looked like me, Rarity, and Pinkie with said clones chasing after Pinkie Pie in a Cat Costume?"
"Uh...they went that way," AJ pointed towards the exit of her farm before blinking in confusion, "Wait...foxes? How…?"
"Long story," Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom responded in unison, the former two just having arrived with Rarity.
"...Nevermind. Let's just go after Pinkie and help her out," AJ sighed.
"Right," the others nodded, rushing after Pinkie.
---
"Ooh...which one's the real one?!" Twilight groaned as she, Timid, Fluttershy, and Spike tried to figure out which of the clones was the original Yuki.
"Ano...I...I don't know," Timid admitted, "I...It's kinda hard to tell."
"I'll say…" Spike sighed a bit before he pulled his tail away just as a Fluttershy clone was about to bite it, "Hey! I'm not a chew toy!"
"Arf!" the clone barked a bit before giving Spike a lick as she ran off.
"Hey!" Spike responded, groaning from the random lick, "Gross…"
"U...um..." Fluttershy stuttered, blushing as two clones of herself rubbed against her, like a young kitten would with it's mom.
"Ugh! There's gotta be someway we can tell which…" Twilight began until…
"YOO-HOO~!"
"Huh?" the ponies and young dragon gawked as they saw Pinkie in her cat suit skipping by.
"...Was that Pinkie Pie just…?" Twilight began.
"Look out!" Spike yelped as he pushed the Mares and filly out of the way just as a large herd of clones, now consisting of the Twilight and Fluttershy clones, gave chase to Pinkie Cat.
"What was that about?" Twilight asked in confusion.
"I...don't know," Spike replied in equal confusion.
"Um...I-I may have an idea… let's follow them," Fluttershy replied, actually taking the lead after the clones with Timid following her.
"R...right," Twilight nodded as she and Spike ran after them.
---
"...Just where's Pinkie Pie? She should've been here by now," Rainbow Dash stated, a bit of worry and boredom in her voice as she, AJ, Rarity, and the CMC-minus Timid, waited for the cat-dressed, pink party pony in the middle of town.
"Ah don't know, Dash," AJ shrugged until they heard a faint squealing meow they recognized as Pinkie, "...Nevermind. There…"
"GANGWAY!-!-!-!-!" Pinkie screamed as she zoomed past them before heading into a nearby building.
"WHOA!" everypony else gasped as they rushed away from the horde of pony-clones that came charging in, looking for the 'cat'.
"I didn't think there was this many clones now!" Applebloom gawked.
"They must've sneezed while chasing Pinkie Pie," Scootaloo guessed.
"...what does sneezing have to do with all these…?" RD began until…
"Hey!" a certain, violet Alicorn called out as she, Spike, Fluttershy, and Timid came rushing into the area, "Did you …." she gawked when she noticed all the clones, "See… uh… nevermind."
"Twilight! Thank goodness you're here," Rarity sighed in relief as she and the others ran up to the other group, "Can you make a barrier to keep all these clones in one place?"
"I'll try!" Twilight responded, activating a glow from her horn before a barrier enclosed all the clones within a small area, some of them whining a bit as they tried to get out.
"Okay…any ideas on how to decrease the numbers and return them to normal?" Scootaloo asked, "Because it's going to be hard trying to find Yuki in all that mess."
"A..Ano…" Timid tried to speak.
"Maybe there's a spell that can help with this?" Sweetie figured.
"I'm not sure about that," Rarity admitted.
"Ano..I..I…"
"Maybe we can jam them together until they become one?" Pinkie asked, poking her head out from a window on the house she hid in.
"Ah don't think it works like that, Pinkie," AJ sweatdropped.
"Ano...I…"
"You want to say something, Timid?" Fluttershy asked, looking at he shy filly.
"Ano...I...I have an idea, F..Fluttershy-san," Timid spoke a tiny bit louder.
"You do?!" the other ponies gasped, scaring Timid Swallow for a second before Fluttershy comforted her.
"It's okay. You can tell us," Fluttershy told her.
"A...Ano..I..I could try and g...get the real one out...I...I j-just need T-Twilight-san to l...let me in the...d...dome," Timid explained with a stutter.
"Are you nuts?!" RD gasped.
"...A-Actually… I think it might work," Fluttershy replied.
"Fluttershy. She's just a filly. What if something happened to her if I let her in there?" Twilight asked in worry.
"But she knows more about this creature most ponies don't seeing the clones' original form is one from Neighpon," Fluttershy replied, a bit louder than usual so Twilight could hear her. "Just trust me."
"...Okay," Twilight sighed in defeat as she looked over at Timid, "If anything happens, I'm pulling you out of there, okay?"
"O...Okay," Timid nodded
With that, Twilight opened a hole in the barrier only enough for Timid to squeeze through.
"Ano...Y...Yuki! H...here girl!" Timid tried to call out to the original, only to be ignored as the clones continued to try and get out of the dome, "A...Ano...Y...yuki-chan! I...It's me! C...Can you just...kya!" she yelped when one pony clone moved past her and tried to escape.
"Timid! That's it...I'm..." Twilight began before Fluttershy stopped her.
"Wait! ...Let her handle this, Twilight," Fluttershy told Twilight.
"...O...okay," Twilgiht nodded as she watched Timid try to get the real Yuki to come out.
"A...ano...Y...Yuki-chan! P...please come out…" Timid tried again, but failed since none of the clones were paying any attention to her. Finally having enough, she gained a serious look on her face, "Minna...STOOOOP!-!-!-!-!-!-!" she yelled really loud, her voice surprisingly echoing all across town, but it was surprisingly enough to get the clones to stop and look at Timid, "Yuki-chan! You come here right now, young lady!"
Most of the pony clones moved away, revealing a lone clone of Fluttershy, who had a nervous/semi-scared look on her face.
"You have caused a LOT of trouble today!" Timid yelled, giving the clone the 'stare' as she approached her, "You're going to dispel all these clones and return to normal at once, or else you'll get nothing for dinner later...got it?!"
"..." the 'Fluttershy' clone tried to give Timid a cute, whimpering look, only for it to fail as Timid still gave her the stare.
She then gave a small whimper as she turned back to normal Yuki while the clones disappeared. Seeing this from his hiding place, Mischief sighed with relief that Yuki was back to just one kit.
"There. Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Timid asked the small kit.
Yuki just whimpered at first before huddling close to Timid as she yawned a bit.
"Good girl," Timid smiled a bit, "Now let's get you home. You must be tired from everything that has happened today."
Yuki simply nodded in response as the kit followed Timid Swallow back to Fluttershy's house, leaving a gawking Mane 6, Spike, and the CMC.
"...W...wow...Timid...sure can scream," Scootaloo noted slowly.
"...Yeah," Sweetie Belle and Applebloom nodded in agreement, along with the gawking Mane 6 and Spike.
"...What?!" Mischief yelled, his ears ringing, "I can't' hear you!"
"...Literally deafening," Scootaloo noted.
---
"There we go...a nice pillow for you to sleep on," Timid smiled as she placed a pillow, which she brought from home real quick, on the floor of Fluttershy's.
Yuki sniffed it a bit before her tails started to wag as she jumped on the pillow, moving on it a bit before she yawned and curled up into a ball.
"Nighty-night," Timid whispered to the young kit, giving her a soft kiss on the head as she helped put a blanket on her.
Fluttershy gave a small smile, the shy Pegasus Mare watching nearby.
'Timid was really brave when she tried to get the real Yuki to come out...and the way she cares for her is really sweet,' Fluttershy thought before an idea popped into her head. She then approached Timid once Yuki was fast asleep, "Timid...may I ask you something."
"Ano...H...hai, Fluttershy-san," Timid replied quietly, not wanting to wake Yuki up, before they walked into another room. "S...So…w-what did you…want to talk about?"
"...How much do you care for Yuki?" Fluttershy asked the shy filly.
"A-Ano...I-I care for her… a lot," Timid answered with a small smile.
"I see… How would you like to take her home then?" Fluttershy asked, causing Timid to look at her in surprise.
"R….really?" Timid asked hopefully.
"...Since you care for her so much… you may," Fluttershy answered before Timid gave her a hug.
"A...arigatou, F...Fluttershy-san!" Timid cheered quietly, still not wanting to wake Yuki up.
"Doitashimashite," Fluttershy smiled, saying "You're welcome" in Neighponese.
"I...I promise I'll take good care of her, F...Fluttershy-san," Timid said, still hugging the shy, Pegasus Mare.
"I know you will," Fluttershy smiled.
"Oh great…Now I'm going to have to live with that furry devil?" Mischief, who was watching and hearing everything from a nearby corner, groaned, "Can things get any...YEOWCH!" he yelped when something stepped, or rather stomped, on his tail. He then quickly turned to see a glaring Angel bunny, "...you."
He would've started causing more trouble… if it weren't for the two ponies nearby giving him "the Stare."
"...They're giving me 'it'...aren't they?" Mischief gulped, earning a nod from Angel, "...Okay then...let's see if I can take it this time. Okay you two...there's something…!" he began as he turned towards the two normally shy Pegasi, only to turn to stone the moment he looked at them, "...dang...it."
Seeing Mischief's pose when he literally turned to stone and fall to ground made Timid and Fluttershy giggle slightly, but it wasn't enough to wake Yuki.
"See….you...next...time...folks," Mischief said to the reader in a stiff tone.