From a sea of black came the image of a barren field of withered grass. Hundreds of thin and twisted trees stood in long rows, not a single leaf to be found on a single branch. A hollowed out barn sat in the middle of it all, broken and left ruined.
In a daze, Applejack walked between the rows of trees, the tears she had cried many hours ago dried upon her cheeks. Although it had taken her some time, she eventually realized it wasn’t just some random barn and field she was walking through, but Sweet Apple Acres.
Was Sweet Apple Acres.
“Gone,” she managed to whimper out. “All gone.”
The nightmare Applejack had been trapped inside was far from perfect—the barn several meters from where it actually stood—but so far she hadn’t noticed a thing amiss. As she saw it, her life’s work had suddenly come to an end. And that was all there was to it.
Dreams always had the oddest ways of seeming more real than they should be.
In Pinkie Pie’s own nightmare, she strolled around in the heart of a mammoth candy store, much larger than Sugarcube Corner ever was. So large, in fact, that she couldn’t even glimpse a possible exit. Tall shelves that stood as tall as the sky itself held every type of sugary delight imaginable—all the colors of the rainbow and flavors that had yet to be invented.
For the longest time, Pinkie Pie merely danced from row to row, eyes bulging from their sockets in a bid to scan every single shelf, making a mental note of which ones to devour first.
On a pedestal illuminated by an unseen light was a green ball no larger than a coin. A sign below it read: “SUPER SOUR BALL—MOST SOUR BALL EVER CREATED.”
Cart-wheeling towards it, Pinkie Pie scooped it up and mashed it into her face, which she found rather odd, because she had actually been aiming for her mouth. Then something cold splashed inside her gut and she finally realized what was keeping her giggles at bay all along.
Somehow her mouth had been removed from her face.
Together on a puffy cloud, Rainbow Dash and Speedy Sparkle embraced one another, panting hard with their manes coated in sweat. Less than a minute ago, they’d both finished the greatest aerial races of their lives, including six Sonic Rainbooms apiece and the sight of Celestia crying tears of pure awesomeness from the sidelines.
Each member of the crowd had a foam hoof on and a matching t-shirt of Rainbow Dash and Speedy Sparkle. When the pair of rainbow mares crossed the finish line at precisely the same millisecond, the whole arena got to their hooves and stomped like there was no tomorrow.
Mayor Mare soon appeared before the pair of pegasi and hung a medal around them. Rainbow Dash gave Speedy Sparkle a quick pat on the shoulder, before looking at her prize. It wasn’t what she had been expecting at all.
“Participation award!?” she shouted, before Speedy Sparkle reacted close to the same.
Mayor Mare smiled at them and nodded. “We had a meeting this morning on the subject of competition and we’ve decided to eliminate it completely; too many ponies end up hurt or pained by not doing as well as others. So now everybody wins every single time!”
Fluttershy, Derpy, and Bulk Biceps crossed the finish line minutes later, and when they came to rest on the same cloud, Mayor Mare gave them all the same medal as Rainbow Dash’s.
Rainbow Dash felt something deep inside her break. “So every participant gets a medal now?”
Mayor Mare grinned wide. “Not just the flyers, but everyone everywhere!”
Rainbow Dash spun around to find the thousands of spectators surrounding them all with their own identical medals. Even Celestia had a participation award to call her own—one which she seemed to be wearing with pride.
That was when Rainbow Dash collapsed to the cloud in a miserable ball of anguish.
***
Nightmare Sparkle carefully stepped in-between the six unconscious mares along the floor, watching as they twitched from side to side and quietly moaned. Before they’d had a chance to react to the ambush, she’d unleashed a sleeping spell that quickly overwhelmed their senses and made them drop to the floor like bricks.
For the last hour, she’d been going from one mare to the next, peeling open their minds and distorting their dreams into that which they feared most. Once she’d learned of what they truly feared, she then increased its potency—first turning a dream into a nightmare and then into something even worse.
Soon she would begin the ritual that would finish them for good—extracting their emotions and their strength through their dreams. Once they all wholly succumbed to their nightmares, there would be no stopping her from draining them until they perished from this world.
Nightmare Sparkle stood by Rarity’s side; the only one she hadn’t begun forming a nightmare for.
“Let us see what makes you squirm.”
Then she pried open her mind to get an intimate glimpse inside.
***
As the six mares fell to the floor all at once, Changey ran away from the ancient mansion as fast as her legs would carry her. Not even half-way across the lawn did a bright ball of light erupt right before her, causing her to halt.
“Changey. You traitorous bitch.”
From the ball of white light stepped out yet another Twilight clone, clad in skin tight black spandex, torn up in several places. Over one eye was a black eye patch and a long, jagged scar ran from her temple to her jaw. Her mane and tail stuck out at odd angles and some parts of them looked scorched as if by fire. Heavy bags hung under her eyes and her expression could be labeled morose at best.
From the fright, Changey fell to the grass and shielded her face with her legs.
“Wh-who are you?” she whispered.
The Sparkle clone exhaled slowly. “Future Sparkle. From ten years from now.” She glared down at Changey. “You’re lucky I have business to take care of, otherwise I wouldn’t hesitate punching a hole through that hardened chest of yours.”
Changey shuddered. “Please! You… you don’t understand!”
Future Sparkle spat on the grass and grumbled, “I understand just fine. I’m from the future, damn it!” She shook her head tiredly. “Clones. Clones never change.”
From a pouch on her side, Future Sparkle brought out a grappling hook that she aimed at the mansion’s roof. Once she shot it up and it hooked around the rain gutters, she pressed a button on the device’s side that began reeling her in. Ten seconds later, after scaling the outside of the house, she stood atop the roof and sighed bitterly.
She yelled to Changey. “Don’t you go getting yourself killed now! You still have more to do in this story before the end!”
Changey grimaced. “What does that mean?”
Future Sparkle rolled her eyes. “It means get the hell out of here before I hit you so hard, Future Changey feels the effects!”
Changey did as she was bid, scampering down the road and out of sight.
From another pouch on her belt, Future Sparkle retrieved a silver circle instrument that she placed on a section of the roof. After retreating a couple steps, she trotted forward and leapt into the air, pressing another button on her side that detonated the small circle below her and created a rough hole into the house.
Inside the mansion, Future Sparkle landed on three legs with the last one left out for balance. She then cleared her shoulders of debris and spun around.
Nightmare Sparkle stared at the new arrival blankly.
“Just who are you supposed to be?”
Future Sparkle smirked. “Your worst nightmare.”
As Nightmare Sparkle shot a purple wave of energy at her, Future Sparkle slid across the floor and hid behind a ratty old couch. A second blast hit the couch and shoved it against a wall, taking Future Sparkle with it. But by that time she’d already retrieved the weapon slung around her back.
Future Sparkle left the safety of the couch to point her silver blast ray at her.
“The nightmare ends now, you skinny jerk face.”
When the blast first struck her, Nightmare Sparkle tried to shield herself with a wing, only for that wing to instantly change from jet black to light purple. As she pulled that wing away, another wave of energy hit her chest, all at once crumpling her armor and sending it tumbling to the ground.
Nightmare Sparkle shrieked—the voices of both a spirit and a pony combined.
“What are you doing to me!?”
Future Sparkle grinned as she spun the dial on her gun, ramping up its strength. She took a cautious step towards the retreating villainess.
“What I’m hitting you with is the equivalent of a thousand doses of adrenaline mixed with hypocretin and a shot of espresso for good measure. You’re nothing more than a living, breathing nightmare, so now it’s time you woke up and realized what a bitch you’re being.”
Nightmare Sparkle howled again.
“I’ll terrorize you for all eternity!”
Most of her armor had already been stripped away from her, and over half of her coat had gone from a deep black to a faint purple color. Future Sparkle took another step to her and aimed the energy wave at her head, knocking off her helmet and toppling the tall alicorn to the ground and into a corner.
When everything was said and done, Future Sparkle lifted her weapon to blow at its steaming nozzle. Then she lightly poked at the curled up creature before her.
“What… what happened?”
During the short fight, Nightmare Sparkle had been completely turned from black to purple, all signs of horror and pure evil erased from her skin. She opened her mouth to speak again, but was halted by a hoof.
“I know what you’re going to say,” Future Sparkle informed her bluntly. “You’re confused; you don’t know why you’re here; you’re oddly awake and have an intense craving for moon pies, but I really don’t care about that. You’re a clone of Twilight Sparkle, same as I. Only you’re also part Princess of the Night.”
“Part… Luna?” Luna Sparkle stammered out.
“Yep.”
Using another gun, Future Sparkle created a large hole in the wall, allowing them a view of the damaged lawn outside.
“Now get your purple butt out the door and away from here before these mares start to stir. I have some things to inform them of and I’d rather you didn’t get in the way.”
Sluggishly, Luna Sparkle got to her hooves and trotted to the newly created hole. She turned back to tell her, “Although I am still rather confused about all this, I feel I must still thank you for what you have done.”
Future Sparkle chuckled dryly. “I’m just making sure things happen when they’re supposed to happen.”
***
After using smelling salts on the six mares on the floor, the group exited the large and decrepit mansion and formed a tight circle beside the porch.
From her pouch, Future Sparkle took out a rolled bit of paper and shot a bit of fire at it from her horn, igniting the tip. She took a slow drag and exhaled tendrils of smoke from her nostrils.
Rarity blanched at her. “You actually smoke?”
Future Sparkle paid her little mind. “After all the things I’ve been through, you’d do the same. Plus, it’s only rolled up grass.”
Rarity blanched harder. “Pot!?”
With a roll of her eyes, Future Twilight kicked at the lawn. “No. Like grass-type grass. The kind you eat. It still helps keep the mind clear, but that doesn’t matter. I came back in time for a very specific purpose and that purpose is to talk to all of you right now.”
Applejack finally finished rubbing some of the mansion’s dust from her hat. “So you didn’t come back in time to rescue us from Nightmare Sparkle?”
Future Sparkle took another puff from her joint, this time exhaling out a perfect circle that she then shot a smoke-unicorn through. “Happenstance, let’s call it. In this timeline, I rescue you from the nightmares. In another, Fluttershy and Trevor Sparkle do. In another, a group of Sparkle clones led by Sparkle Sparkle do the dirty work. In the last, you all escape the nightmares due to your own gumption and fortitude.”
“Things are getting a bit out of hoof here,” Applejack said with furrowed brows.
“Apples,” Apple Sparkle concurred.
Future Sparkle waved a hoof. “Doesn’t matter. Alternate dimensions, alternate timelines, Twilight clones as far as my one good eye can see—all that matters is who set this whole thing in motion and just what they’re planning on doing after everything comes to a close.”
Rainbow Dash hovered overhead of them. “You mean Dark Sparkle, right?”
Speedy Sparkle plopped down on her marefriend’s shoulders, resting her head on hers. “Yeah. Ditto what she just said.”
Future Sparkle shook her head. “Afraid not. She might seem like the one that’s causing all this nasty business, but she’s only just a puppet to someone else, same as that Nightmare Sparkle in there—created specifically to confuse and hurt anyone they can.”
With both hooves, Applejack shook Future Sparkle hard enough to knock the joint from her lips. “Then quit stalling and just tell us who’s responsible for all this!”
Future Sparkle chuckled. “All right, friendos. The one you need to look out for is—”
BLAM!
Another ball of burning white energy suddenly appeared in the center of the mares, causing them to shield their eyes and take a collective step back.
What stepped out from the light was another Twilight clone almost identical to Future Sparkle, only clad in a matching black and blue sweat suit and a good sixty pounds heavier.
“Stop!” she shouted, clearly out of breath from the trip. “Don’t tell them anymore!”
Future Sparkle’s mouthed popped open from the sight. “Just what the hell are you supposed to be? Fat Sparkle?”
The bigger Sparkle grabbed hold of Future Sparkle’s shoulders. “No! I’m you from the future! Two years after you come here! Twelve years from today!”
Looking more than a little mortified, Future Sparkle scanned her other self up and down. “What in Tartarus did I do to myself? Holy crap, I’m disgusting!”
Fat Future Sparkle huffed out angrily. “It’s not my fault! Really, it’s not! You know how tasty future food becomes? It’s ridiculous! They inject everything with butter in the future! Even putting butter inside of butter!”
Future Sparkle shoved herself away. “Get your greasy hooves off of me. I came back on a mission and I intend to see it through, no matter what Fatty Fat Sparkle might have to say about it.”
“That’s not my name!”
Future Sparkle cocked a brow. “So what if it’s not? Is Chunky Sparkle better? Om-Nom Sparkle?”
“Om-Nom Sparkle?” Rarity inquired.
Future Sparkle whirled to her. “It’s the sound fat ponies make when they eat.”
Fat Future Sparkle poked her with a meaty leg. “Make fun of me all you want, but don’t you dare forget it was actually you who did this to us. So just shut up for a second.”
Keeping quiet for a moment, Future Sparkle took the time prod at her own belly and thighs as a worrying expression found her.
After a breath, Fat Future Sparkle faced the rest of the group. “I came back in time to stop Future Sparkle for a very large reason. By telling you who’s behind everything right this moment, it only makes things so much worse years from now. So I’m sorry to tell you this, but I can’t let you know who’s creating all these clones.”
“Well, that’s just silly!” Applejack exclaimed. “Just why can’t you tell us? Or why can’t you just tell us and then warn us about what happens in the future so we could know what to look out for?”
Fat Future Sparkle shook her head. “Time travel is more complicated than it seems. Even thinking about it for more than a minute makes me tired.”
“I’m sure the same effect stairs have on you…” Rarity muttered to no one but herself.
Future Sparkle poked her plot one more time before speaking again. “So I can’t tell them anything? That’s just—”
BLAM!
Another ball of sharp white light.
“Wait! You’re both wrong!”
A third time-traveling Twilight clone stepped out from the light, near identical to the first Future Sparkle but with more scars along her face and less mane and tail to lay claim to.
Fat Future Sparkle gasped. “Oh, wow! I got thin again! But how?”
Future Future Sparkle regarded her wearily. “A really nice gym opens up across the street from our house. Also, the government shuts down that butter-injecting food company so everything gets a whole lot healthier pretty quick. But that’s not why I’m here. I’m from fourteen years from today and I’ve come with an important message for you all.”
Future Sparkle frowned at her. “Another future me, huh? If Thunder Thighs Sparkle is wearing a sweat suit, then just why are you back to wearing spandex? Is the clone war still raging on fourteen years from now?”
Future Future Sparkle shook her head. “No. Much worse. It’s the robot wars this time. But you can worry about that when the time comes. Here’s what I need to tell you all.” She closed her eyes and composed herself. “You can’t tell them who’s responsible for the clones, but you don’t need to tell them nothing, either. What you need to do is be very cryptic about it.”
“Cryptic?” Future Sparkle spat. “Like… moving the plot forward using half-answers, riddles, or dumb metaphors?” She ran a hoof through her patchy mane. “What in Tartarus happened to me? First I get all fat and then I get all annoying.”
Rarity edged herself closer to Future Future Sparkle. “So what’s the message, then? For the love of Celestia won’t one of you future clones tell us something useful?”
Future Future Sparkle exhaled slowly. “Two clones have already lied to you already; one being far more important than the other. And understand this: the only way this ends is once you find the original Twilight Sparkle.”
“But where in Equestria is she even?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“That’s all I can tell you without disrupting the timelines or alternate dimensions.”
At that bit of knowledge, most mares groaned.
Future Sparkle spat in the grass. “Both you versions of myself! That’s it! We’re gonna have us a conversation about time travel and the rules of such, because I’m still not understanding much of this. So let’s go grab a coffee and talk.”
Fat Future Sparkle raised a hoof. “And cake?”
Future Sparkle growled at her, “You’re getting nothing but water until you go back to your own timeline. How could I even do something like that to myself?”
Hooking a leg around both future time travelers, Future Sparkle lit up her horn and the three of them disappeared from the lawn, scorching the area of grass underneath them.
Once gone, Rarity faced the other mares.
“So what did any of that solve?”
Applejack threw her hat onto the ground. “Nothing! That’s what! First we get tricked and almost die, then we get rescued and almost get some real answers before they’re taken away from us! Gosh darn it! I hate clones so much right now!”
“Apple?” Apple Sparkle asked her meekly.
Applejack took a breath and gave her a gentle hug. “You know I didn’t mean you, sugarcube. I just meant all these other Sparkle clones. It’s almost like someone’s making them up as they go along and are making us deal with them for their own amusement. And it’s just getting annoying, you know?”
Rainbow Dash landed beside them. “Not to ruin your little tantrum there, AJ, but anyone ever wonder what happened to Fluttershy after this all started?”
Rarity gasped.
“And here I’d completely forgotten about her...”